12 Buzzing, Sighing, the Sword (2/2)
The middle-aged scholar, raised his hand to sweep the blood on his eyebrow with his sleeve, gazed at the elder beside carriage and an empty scabbard beside the old man, and said with a complex feeling, ”One careless move may lose the whole game. That Lyu Qingchen of South School of Haotian Taoism should abandon sword and cultivate Psyche Power. You can guess how many people would feel astounded if I spread this news.”
Keeping silent for a while, he continued. ”What is much beyond my knowledge is that you succeeded in stepping into the Dongxuan State at such an old age. Is it due to some secret art in Haotian Taoism?”
The elder named Lyu Qingchen answered softly, ”I followed the princess to live in the north for a year, enjoying quite different views, as well as different customs and was inspired. Therefore, I stepped forward in cultivation state. I didn't think it was related to Taoism.”
Hearing this unexpected explanation, the middle-aged scholar froze for a moment as if he was thinking about something. After a long silence, he cast his eyesight to the chief bodyguard down on one knee in the fallen leaves, saying in a much serious tone,
”After I was upgraded to be a Great Sword Master, I felt that average martial arts could never be my counterpart. But today, your subordinate and you taught me a lesson.”
The middle-aged scholar made a fist-and-palm salute to the badly injured bodyguards, praised and said, ”It is great pride of our Tang dynasty to have fearless soldiers like you.”
The chief bodyguard nodded slightly without saying a word.
”There are not many Great Sword Masters in Chang'an Local Government, but you are not one of them,” Lyu Qingchen said, looking at the bleeding middle-aged scholar and he continued. ”Academy really is a place full of unknown masters.”
Hearing the word 'Academy', those surviving soldiers couldn't help but feel shocked and confused. Was it possible for lofty Academy to be involved in this assassination attempt on the princess?
Ning Que subconsciously looked at the maidservant at his side. Though she seemed lost in thought, her expression said that she didn't think Academy was linked to the attack.
The middle-aged scholar was surprised, shaking his head and bitterly answered, ”I didn't expect that you found out where I came. But I should not bring any shame to Academy. I... was just a stupid apprentice expelled by Academy.”
Covered with blood and reeling, he would fall down at any time, but facing such a mighty enemy like him, the survivors, both the grassland barbarians and the bodyguards, nervously held their breath for any possible fight. Even though he was the only opponent left.
Ning Que felt the same, filled with combined emotions such as excitement and bewilderment.
Having heard the legends of those great cultivators when he lived in City of Wei and having studied Article on the Response of the Tao for many years, Ning Que has imagined what they could be. However, this was the first time for him to witness an authentic combat between great cultivators.
It was said that intrepid generals in the military of Tang Empire had various crack techniques, but since the frontiers were at peace for years, an insignificant soldier in border town like Ning Que had no chance to watch a combat of this level.
He couldn't help recalling what he had seen. The hiltless mini-sword flying freely among falling leaves; the giant man casting a gigantic rock to destroy a carriage; the old man, with eyes closed that used Psyche Power to kill remotely. All of these incredible feats of magic emerged from his memory one after another and in such quick time, stirring his mind and unsettling his heart.
As the three words, 'Academy', 'expelled', 'stupid apprentice', reached him, Ning Que became awake somehow, but fell into another kind of thrill.
Imagine that a stupid expelled apprentice could kill ten bodyguards from elite troop of Tang with just a small matte sword. How enormous and unbelievable the power of those real students in Academy could be!
”He might be under the command of Xia Hou,” the maidservant whispered frigidly.
As the name of Xia Hou hit him, Ning Que's face turned serious and even his body became stiff. It took him more than several seconds to recover from this abnormal state, but his eyes were now icily judging the middle-aged man instead of praising him for his ability.
”You cultivate Haoran Sword Skill. It is not difficult for me to guess where you are from.”
Lyu Qingchen continued. ”It is a pity that you haven't learned much from the second floor of Academy before you were expelled. At the beginning, the sword rose with momentum like wind and thunder, but was changed into something flexible and surreptitious.”
Lyu Qingchen added. ”Being honest and untrammeled is top priority in Haoran Kendo, but you didn't follow it. You fancy yourself smart, but this decision is boring indeed. If you had met the middle-aged me twenty years ago, you would not have defeated me either, even if I didn't step into the Dongxuan State.”
The middle-aged scholar lowered his head with a shallow smile, which appeared especially miserable at his gorgeous face covered with tiny blood beads.
When he was invited to kill the princess and knew the level of the elder following her, as a Great Sword Master in the Dongxuan State, this middle-aged scholar dressed in cyan Cheongsam thought it more than easy to finish his task.
Nevertheless, the information he got had not included that the elder had stepped into Dongxuan State. To everyone's astonishment, the missionary of South School of Haotian Taoism had abandoned the sword and chose Psyche.
Even so, Great Sword Master still had a chance to win. Nonetheless, he didn't expect those that bodyguards of Tang that were positioned around the carriage could actually make so much trouble for him either, and his location was found by Lyu Qingchen.
It was perilous for a great cultivator's location to be found by his rival on the same level, Psyche Master in particular. Lyu Qingchen controlled his small sword first and took it as a bridge to hurt him with Psyche Power. Facing a Psyche Master famous for killing speed, he had no way to react but was attacked by the Psyche Power which directly rushed into his Ocean of Qi and Mountain of Snow, ruined his viscera and broke his blood vessels.
He was doomed to die at the entrance of Northern Mountain Road this day, so he would not mind those comments from Lyu Qingchen. Though something else was more imperative for him to do before he would die.