Chapter 61 : Chapter 61
Chapter 61: Master, This Disciple Is Incompetent—Only You Can Help Me Now!
With a single slash, Cheng Yu killed the senior disciple of Sword-Forging Manor.
He stepped forward, raised his saber, and roared, "Kill!"
His Jinyiwei subordinates and soldiers all erupted in cheers, waving banners and shouting battle cries. For a moment, everyone's momentum surged as they steeled themselves to wipe Sword-Forging Manor off the map.
【The host's slaying of enemies has stirred men's hearts and boosted the Jinyiwei's momentum. Reward: ten years of hard-body training accumulation!】
Madman!
This man was a complete madman!
Watching this scene, Fan Xiu cursed Cheng Yu a hundred times over in his heart. If Sword-Forging Manor was truly raided and exterminated, all the connections he had built in the jianghu would be wiped away for good.
Yet compared with losing those jianghu ties, drawing the Great Qian Emperor's suspicion upon his loyalty would be an even greater disaster. No matter how unwilling he was, at this moment Fan Xiu could only harden his heart and strike.
In an instant, the two Jinyiwei Assistant Commissioners drew their Xiuchun Sabers.
Cold blade bodies became wrapped in black, sinister internal energy. Black mist surged upward and slashed out with the blades.
The Jinyiwei's top art, a Low Human Rank technique—Nether Ghost Saber!
Attacking in tandem, the two unleashed black saber-lights that hacked forward with terrifying force. The martial artists gritted their teeth and went wide-eyed. Even as fear gripped them, they all used their signature skills and desperately tried to hold the attack back.
But they were all only at the Seventh Rank. The gap between them and Ai Peng and Fan Xiu, both Eighth Rank, was enormous.
In the Upper Three Ranks of martial arts, every step was a chasm.
That gap was not something sheer numbers could make up for. It had been one thing when He Qin, as an Eighth Rank expert, led them in besieging a single opponent. Facing two such men was an entirely different matter.
As the two Xiuchun Sabers came down, the force behind them was so overwhelming that everyone could only resist with their lives on the line.
"My disciple!"
At that moment, He Qin, who had been holding back until now, saw He Qing cut down by Cheng Yu and let out a mournful cry.
How could his disciple have been so foolishly straightforward?
Why rush out alone to fight Cheng Yu? Would it not have been far better to let the people of the other sects charge first while he lay in wait for an opportunity? That had been exactly what He Qin himself had intended.
Because of this, the jianghu martial artists were being driven back step by step against Ai Peng and Fan Xiu.
Now that Sword-Forging Manor's chief disciple was dead and years of resources had been wasted, He Qin was truly enraged.
"Cheng Yu, you whelp—I’ll have your life!"
The sword at He Qin's waist erupted with sword qi that seemed to fill heaven and earth as he moved to attack Cheng Yu.
CLANG!
Ai Peng chopped over with his Xiuchun Saber wrapped in black mist, driving He Qin back a hundred paces.
"Get past me first."
He Qin raised his sword and blocked the strike. Seeing that someone dared stand in his way only made the rage in his heart surge higher. With a sharp tremor of his blade, he unleashed an exceptionally profound sword art and locked into battle with Ai Peng.
The clash between two Eighth Rank martial artists was terrifying.
Ai Peng's saber art came down with chilling force, while black qi turned into ghostly phantoms that coiled and ravaged the sword qi around He Qin.
"Seeking death!"
With a turn of his palm, He Qin flung his hand upward. More than a dozen Human Grade weapons shot into the air and, guided by sword qi, swarmed Ai Peng and suppressed him.
Their battle became ferocious in an instant.
On Fan Xiu's side, he also gave a cold snort, his Xiuchun Saber suppressing the many Seventh Rank martial artists.
Just then, He Qin suddenly shouted harshly, "Come help me surround this man first! Otherwise we're all finished!"
The martial artists were already being forced back again and again under Fan Xiu's pressure. The moment they heard He Qin's command, several Seventh Rank experts immediately withdrew and charged toward Ai Peng.
Ai Peng was slightly weaker than He Qin to begin with, and now that he had to face multiple enemies alone, he hurriedly shifted to defense.
Fan Xiu also rushed over at once to help.
The two Assistant Commissioners and the jianghu martial artists were soon locked in a chaotic melee.
But in the very next moment, something happened that no one had expected.
With a savage expression, He Qin pulled back from the battlefield, his eyes filled with towering hatred as he looked toward Cheng Yu.
"You killed my disciple and still want to wipe out my Sword-Forging Manor? Just wait! I'll kill you next!"
"Invoke the Patriarch Sword!!!"
The instant his voice fell, Sword-Forging Mountain suddenly began to tremble. A wave of sword qi swept outward and scattered all the clouds and mist.
Cheng Yu frowned and murmured, "The Dragon Abyss Sword..."
Just as he had expected, once the sword qi spread out, a sharp streak of light shot from the peak of Sword-Forging Mountain straight into He Qin's hand.
Crimson sword qi exploded, and within it appeared the shadow of a soaring dragon.
A terrifying pressure spread outward.
A resplendent treasure sword blazing with draconic majesty appeared.
It was the heavenly armament famed throughout the jianghu and ranked on the Heavenly Armament List—the guardian treasure of Sword-Forging Manor, the Heaven-Grade divine armament Dragon Abyss Sword!
Hope reignited at once in the hearts of the martial artists who had been losing against the Jinyiwei side.
"The Dragon Abyss Sword! We're saved!"
"Now that the Dragon Abyss Sword is out, these imperial hounds are nothing but clay chickens and pottery dogs!"
"Manor Lord He, kill these bastards at once!"
The martial artists were beside themselves with excitement, but Ai Peng and Fan Xiu both frowned in worry.
The aura of the Dragon Abyss Sword was simply too terrifying. Even the two of them felt fear when facing it.
Yet Cheng Yu only spoke coldly.
"I wonder whether Manor Lord He can truly wield the Dragon Abyss Sword properly. Don't make a grand show of it only to disgrace yourself."
The moment those words were spoken, the joy on the martial artists' faces faltered.
The Dragon Abyss Sword was a Heaven-Grade weapon. Only a Grandmaster could wield it perfectly.
Ever since Sword-Forging Manor's first Manor Lord, the creator of the Dragon Abyss Sword, there had never again been a Grandmaster within the manor.
No one had ever been able to fully bring out the Dragon Abyss Sword's true power.
He Qin, the current Manor Lord, had not even properly stepped into the Eighth Rank. Whether he could control the Dragon Abyss Sword at all was far from certain.
If he tried to use it rashly, he would definitely suffer backlash!
"Hmph! Killing you people with the Dragon Abyss Sword will be no different from butchering pigs and dogs. One strike will be enough!"
He Qin let out a cold snort and raised the sword with both hands, gritting his teeth as he frantically poured all his internal energy into the Dragon Abyss Sword.
In the next moment, a heaven-piercing surge of sword qi rose from the Dragon Abyss Sword. Accompanied by a horrifying pressure, the phantom of a dragon emerged.
Layer upon layer of sword qi wrapped around the Dragon Abyss Sword, forming a giant sword of qi more than ten zhang long, bristling with killing intent.
Anyone who looked at it felt his heart tremble.
A Grandmaster had once died beneath the Dragon Abyss Sword!
He Qin gritted his teeth and stared at Cheng Yu. Because he was forcing the Dragon Abyss Sword into use, his entire body had grown gaunter and weaker by several degrees.
The hands gripping the sword had already been sliced into a bloody mess by the sword qi.
Like a vortex, the Dragon Abyss Sword was crazily devouring his internal energy.
That one strike had already damaged his foundation. If he used a second strike, he would have to pay an even greater price.
He had to win with this one sword strike!
"All of you, die beneath the might of the Dragon Abyss Sword!"
With a furious roar, He Qin suddenly slashed not at Cheng Yu, but in Ai Peng and Fan Xiu's direction.
The sword qi turned into a dragon-shadow and surged forward with boundless force.
The reason he had ordered the other martial artists to besiege Ai Peng earlier had been precisely for this moment—so that one strike could kill two birds with one stone.
And those jianghu martial artists widened their eyes in utter terror.
Why were they inside the range of the attack too?!
"Manor Lord He! You—!"
From the very beginning, He Qin had planned to sacrifice them!
"Once I kill these two, I'll kill that Cheng Yu as well and rid the jianghu of a great scourge! Your deaths will have value!"
He Qin's voice was ice-cold, and the martial artists felt as though they had fallen into an icy abyss.
Ai Peng and Fan Xiu were also horrified.
Just as they tried to dodge, they felt their feet turn heavy, and they could no longer move.
Panic rose in their hearts.
The dragon-might of the Dragon Abyss Sword had suppressed them!
Ai Peng hurriedly shouted, "Hundred-Household Commander Cheng, have someone move already!"
"It would make no difference no matter who came. Beneath the Dragon Abyss Sword, no one can withstand it!"
He Qin screamed like a madman.
As long as he wiped out the Jinyiwei and monopolized the Dragon Vein for himself, Sword-Forging Manor would still have a chance!
But right at that moment—
"What a fine sword!"
An aged voice rang out.
In the next instant, a massive whirlwind rose from the ground out of nowhere like a divine miracle.
Jian A's aged figure appeared before the oncoming strike of the Dragon Abyss Sword, sword qi spilling from his entire body with razor-sharp force.
The Wind and Cloud Sword in his hand transformed into a blade of qi formed from a raging gale.
Then he slashed out with a shocking strike.
A great wind rose between heaven and earth.
Gale Sword Dao!
The two powers crashed into one another, shattering as they collided and locking in a tense stalemate.
"Who is that?"
Everyone stared at the scene in utter shock.
Only despair remained in He Qin's eyes. What expert appeared this time? Was Heaven truly determined to destroy Sword-Forging Manor?
Very soon, the two bursts of sword qi annihilated one another and turned into billowing shockwaves that pushed everyone back half a step.
Jian A's sword-qi-wreathed form returned to that of a frail old man. Soaked in blood, he leaned on his cane, but his eyes still shone with the radiance of the Sword Dao.
"As expected of the Dragon Abyss Sword! To have fought such a battle in this life—what joy!"
No one dared look down on him in that state, because he had just forcibly received a strike from the Dragon Abyss Sword head-on.
What kind of attainment in the Sword Dao was this?
"How is that possible?!"
He Qin spat out a mouthful of blood. He had damaged his foundation to use the Dragon Abyss Sword, yet the strike had still been blocked!
"I don't believe it!"
With his heart in wild turmoil, the man descended fully into madness.
Ignoring everything else, he raised the Dragon Abyss Sword once more and poured his internal energy into it without holding anything back.
His whole body aged in an instant, and both hands were cut open so deeply that stark white bone was exposed.
Everyone's breathing caught, and terror filled their faces.
He Qin had gone mad! He was going to use his life to drive the Dragon Abyss Sword for another strike!
Jian A had already been heavily wounded after blocking the first strike. What were they supposed to do now?
At that moment, Jian A's aged voice rang out once more, utterly without fear.
"Master, this disciple is incompetent. I can only rely on you now!"