484 The Sword in the Dark (1/2)

Chapter 484: The Sword in the Dark

Translator: TransnEditor: Transn

As a betrayer of Devil's Doctrine, Xia Hou's natal item was that horrifying Open spear thrust. He could clearly perceive all the details before the appearance of the metal spear, thus he knew that Sangsang was not dead.

The first deadly thrust which he tolerated and sought for using his extreme perseverance failed to kill Ning Que. Even when he secretly combined it with the righteous art of war to launch the second thrust, which would certainly hit the bull eye, he still failed to kill the little handmaiden on the cliff. Two continuously and incredibly missing ruined Xia Hou's mood.

At this point, Ning Que had already moved thousands of feet and arrived on the Snow Lake.

Just then, Xia Hou slightly twisted his brows. He instantly clenched his right fist tightly in the snow storm. The metal spear on the cliff violently retreated as though it was being bounced back into the air by the big black umbrella.

The darkish metal spear pierced through the snow residue left floating on the lake as it pierced through the slightest freezing wind. Together with the sharp howling sound, the spear pierced Ning Que's back like a lightning.

The sharp howling sound was produced due to the force traveling against the wind. It was a sound caused by the turbulence of the air around the razor-sharp blade. The higher than a pitch of the sound meant the quicker the speed. Just by listening to the sound, one would know that the speed of this metal spear was not comparable with Primordial Thirteen Arrows, but it was still extremely fearful.

Based on logic, Ning Que's current ability of Seethrough Upper State was not possible for him to foresee Xiu Hou's Open spear thrust path of movement. It was certainly beyond possibility for him to deal with such horrifying speed.

However, Ning Que was not a person who did things based on logic. His experiences and cultivation process, if one carefully looked back, were not logical at all.

Just when the metal spear was thirty feet away from his back and before the piercing sound had traveled to his ears, he reacted by filling his body with the Great Spirit and forcefully twisted his body in the dark. He then focused all his mental energy and strength onto the blade as he aggressively snapped it off from his back!

A loud, vivid sound was heard, followed by the spilling of strong gush of air from the edge of the knife blade and spear blade in all directions, causing the snow accumulated on the snow lake to shake without stop.

Ning Que felt a sharp pain on his wrist that caused him to almost drop the podao in his hand. However, he used his determination to stabilize his form as he made a turn in the dark using the rebound force from his knife blade and once again shouted as he pounced towards Xia Hou. His speed was, in fact, faster than a few minutes ago.

That metal spear drew a curve in the dark night and arrived in front of Xia Hou before Ning Que did as it returned to Xia Hou's right hand in the freezing wind.

The freezing wind gathered. Ning Que dashed against the wind with both his hands gripping tightly onto a podao as he slashed it towards his opponent's head!

Xia Hou's body was already covered with blood. His face was pale, but his expression remained the same calm. As he watched a ghostly figure pounced towards him, he simply moved his spear forwards.

The blades of the spear and knife collided, creating a bright spark.

After a loud collision sound, Ning Que, like an injured big bird, pitifully moved backwards. He had once again fallen heavily onto the snow lake.

The darkish metal spear vibrated vigorously in momentum in Xia Hou's hand and for a long time, it could not quiet down as it gave out a disappointing low howling sound.

Every time the metal spear and the podao collided, the collision was solid, unglamorous and forceful. It seemed simple and uninteresting, yet in fact, there was a hidden ground-breaking meaning behind each collision.

Ning Que got himself off the ground. He felt that his wrist had been broken and his face was as pale as snow. Though Xia Hou was severely injured by his Talisman Arrow, in terms of strength and the intensity of Qi, Ning Que was far less than his opponent. This gap between them was impossible for him to fill up or pull closer.

A simple thrust from Xia Hou could destroy the sacrificing attack that Ning Que had planned for it for a long time. There was no reason for Xia Hou to be unpleased with such outcome, yet he began to frown deeply.

That was because that thrust had failed to stab into Ning Que's body.

Prior to that, when the Open spear thrust was burning like sunlight and was all prepared to tear apart the darkness within Ning Que's body, the podao in Ning Que's hands had, strangely and without his knowing, flipped out. It had, without any error, slashed the tip of the spear, causing Ning Que to fell down from the impact. Thus, his fall was not due to the power of the spear.

Xia Hou squinted his eyes and looked at Ning Que as he said, ”When you shut yourself off in the cliff cave at the back of the mountain in the Academy during Spring, you were indeed not cultivating both talisman and martial arts. In fact, you...had already join the Devil.”

Ning Que spitted his saliva with trace of blood on the snow-covered ground in front of him and kept quiet.

Before that, Xia Hou had already realized the half of the answer. That answer was that Ning Que had joined the Devil. Other wise, as an average cultivator, it was impossible for him to tolerate the massive strength brought upon by the metal spear.

But that was only the half of the answer.

Xia Hou had thrust three times towards Ning Que tonight and every thrust was done wholeheartedly. He believed that even if his opponents were the strong warriors of the Devil's Doctrine that year, it was impossible for them to take such strike.

Ning Que should be dead. Yet he was still alive.

Every time at that critical moment, when the darkness of death from the spear was about to cover Ning Que's body, Ning Que was able to react in time and he could react in the best possible way.

Xia Hou began to stay alert. Even if Ning Que had joined the Devil, it was still inadequate to explain how he could manage to act like this. This represented that he had a deep understanding of the Qi of Heaven and Earth surrounding him.

In other words, Ning Que seemed to possess the ability to battle with Knowing Destiny State tonight.

The snow on the city wall gradually stopped, yet the temperature seemed lower than before. The Eldest Brother and Ye Su gazed in the direction of the Yanming Lake. The auras that both of them released seemed like mist fogging the surrounding.

Ye Su had never thought that Ning Que could actually be grabbed hold of Xia Hou's Open spear thrust. Though the outcome was extremely bad, he did not die from it. This made him confused, or even stunned.

Though Xia Hou's Open spear was black and could move in the dark without leaving any trace of movements, it was a righteous force. Using the vibe from its speed and strength to launch at all-out attack, it could only cornered his opponent to a life and death battle.

With Ning Que's current perception level, it was impossible to capture the trace of movement of the Open spear thrust, needless to say about predicting the enemy's intention. He could only force himself to take the strike. Moreover, his cultivation state was lower than the Seethrough state. He had no capability to use the Qi of Heaven and Earth. Hence, when Xia Hou launched the first thrust, he should already be dead.

”Xia Hou's Open spear thrust naturally couldn't hurt you, Mr. First.”

Ye Su took a glance at the Eldest Brother and continued to say, ”If it's Liu Bai, he would definitely turn the situation around by attacking the opponent with the continuous slapping of the yellow waves and take the opportunity to kill him. If the metal spear is coming towards me, I will most probably chain it with me sword style and try to grab hold of this spear. However, I don't understand how Ning Que could dodge Xia Hou's spear thrust.”

The Eldest Brother thought for a long while before he shook his head and said, ”I also have no idea how Younger Brother managed to do it.”

Ye Su closed his eyes and focused on listening to the faint blade collision sound from the distant snow lake. Then there was a sound of someone stepping on the snow like a ghost and glided through the air. He suddenly thought of one possibility.

Moments later, he opened his eyes, frowned and said, ”If that's the case, there's still no proper explanation.”

Eldest Brother asked, ”What case?”

Ye Su said emotionlessly, ”You know what I am referring to.”

The Eldest Brother said, ”The Academy will not admit it.”

Ye Su spoke softly, ”Not admitting it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.”

The Eldest Brother said slowly, ”If there's no evidence, your guess will only attract troubles.”

Ye Su took a deep breath. He then suddenly said a headless sentence, ”The Headmaster will leave one day.”

The Eldest Brother did not think and said a sentence.

This sentence was exactly the same sentence as what Ning Que had replied Ye Hongyu.

”I don't think Teacher will leave before us.”

Ever since he inherited the Youngest Uncle's gift at the Front Gate of the Devil's Doctrine, the Great Spirit within Ning Que's body had been changing his body continuously. Now, his body was becoming stronger and his strength was becoming bigger. His movements and speed had also correspondingly became faster.

However, Xia Hou was a strong warrior from the previous generation of the Devil's Doctrine. His body had been cultivated with Qi for many years. His strength or speed were both higher than Ning Que's. Hence, the reason that Ning Que was able to block Xia Hou's Open spear thrust was not due to all these factors.

Ning Que did not expect that Xia Hou's final move would be a martial art from Tao. Never did he thought that Xia Hou would have his own natal item. However, deep within his sense of perception contained numerous pieces of realization from Master Lotus' experiences.

Those pieces of realizations were spiritual imprints.

Xia Hou had the skills from the Devil's Doctrine and all them were inherited from Lotus. Lotus understood this disciple more than anyone else. Though it was not possible for him to know Xia Hou's situation when practicing Open spear thrust, but he knew Xia Hou's interest and habit even his legs gesture. He knew everything about Xia Hou.

If Master Lotus was an enormous web as broad as the ocean, then Xia Hou was the gigantic rock statue that strolled along this enormous web. He seemed powerful and indestructible, but in fact, every step he took was still within this web. This web would understand every intention he had with every vibration he caused.

Ning Que possessed all of Master Lotus' spiritual imprints, which was equivalent to him owning this web. Though he was not able to control these spiritual imprints, but every time Xia Hou walked on this web, those pieces of realization located deep within these sense of perception would begin to glow, forecasting what Xia Hou was preparing to do and how he should counteract them.

Last year during winter at Hulan Sea, when Ning Que, who was not as strong as now, faced with Xia Hou's fist, which was much more powerful than the one tonight, he could still remain calm. That was due to these pieces of realization.

Tonight, these pieces of realization remained effective.