1074 A Wisp Of Haoran Qi (1/2)
The many pairs of eyes stared at the big black horse as it bolted toward the enemy's camp before it finally blasted into Yangzhou. The audiences included the Tang troops, noblemen of the city clique, the dead men of the Fuchun River, and the hanged men on the trees beside the bridge. Their widened eyes were filled with grudges when they passed on. Now, they finally were able to shut their eyes in peace after they saw Ning Que's presence.
There was a straight long street behind the city gate of Yangzhou. The big black horse dashed toward the south along the street and went miles away in a blink of an eye. The clip-clop of horseshoes gradually diminished. That was Ning Que's answer to the dead men.
At the street that was located thousands of miles away, a gigantic sacred sedan stopped in the middle of the street. The curtain fluttered in the warm wind of the spring. The face of the young Great Divine Priest, who was sitting inside the sedan, was vaguely shown through the window. He wore an innocent yet ferocious smile on his calm face.
”I think your unstoppable impulsiveness embarrasses the Academy,” Hengmu Liren spoke as he looked at Ning Que.
Ning Que unmounted from his horse. With no reply, he reached out for the handle of the knife at the back of his shoulder as he walked toward the sacred sedan.
He was standing thousands of meters away from the sacred sedan and it would take him a thousand small and slow steps to reach the sacred sedan.
”According to your battle style, you will not allow your opponent a long time to prepare. Why are you taking a thousand steps now? Are you trying to spare yourself some time? Seemingly, you have foreseen the development of the battle.”
Hengmu Liren flashed a satisfied grin as he said, ”Your easy win against A Da in the wild was within everyone's expectation because a Fu Master like you were born undefeatable. Moreover, you are backed by your Academy. Together with both the evil devil and the heretic outcast, you're one of the strongest men among the cultivators now. Unfortunately… none of these work on me.”
Ning Que had taken ten steps forward as Hengmu Liren spoke.
Hengmu Liren's grin gradually wore off as he stared at Ning Que who was slowly approaching him. A hint of evilness flashed across his youthful eyes as he said coldly, ”Fu Masters from the same state cannot compete against each other? Fu Masters from the Five States are born undefeatable? That means nothing to me. You know clearly that I've long surpassed the Five States. How are you going to defeat me?”
Ning Que remained silent as he walked forward quietly with his fist gripped around the handle of the knife. Ning Que's silence did not put Hengmu Liren at ease. Instead, his expression grew grimmer than before. He gently leaned his body forward before he slowly positioned his body upright. He said sternly, ”Of course I acknowledge your power. Regardless of the result of today's fight, this battle will leave a great impact to the entire human world, just like the Battle of Verdant Canyon. This will definitely be noted in the history. Therefore, I appreciate your presence today.”
Hengmu Liren had the opportunity to showcase his power when he was competing against Ning Que, who was considerably strong.
Despite his expression of gratitude, his tone was filled with absolute conceit. However, Ning Que had a different opinion. Ning Que did not see any similarity between their fight at the street of Yangzhou today and the Battle of Verdant Canyon. Ning Que might have barely caught up with his Second Brother's then standard. But, Hengmu's ability was nowhere close to Liu Bai.
Hengmu Liren was Haotian's gift to the human world. He even thought that he was the biological son of Haotian. But, that was merely a meaningless statement. Liu Bai was the only and the strongest one to have the courage to attack Haotian. He was the real strong one.
Hengmu Liren was slightly annoyed by Ning Que's prolonged silence. A hint of furiousness beamed from his solemn deep eyes. In Hengmu's opinion, Ning Que should reciprocate and appreciate Hengmu's presence as well. Hengmu felt insulted by Ning Que's persistent wordlessness.
”Are you confident in winning this battle?” he scoffed as he looked at Ning Que.
”No. I'm not confident.” Finally, Ning Que had spoken. He gazed into the sacred sedan and said calmly, ”Even when my opponent is a baby who has no cultivation, I will never commence a battle with absolute confidence. Only people like Ye Hongyu and I can understand this mentality. Therefore, you will never be able to defeat people like us.”
After a brief silence, Hengmu Liren replied, ”Were you… born to fight?”
Ning Que was yet a thousand miles away from the sacred sedan. He gently loosened his hand around the handle of the knife before he abruptly made another tenacious grip.
Hengmu Liren raised his head and stared at Ning Que's face with his deep and tranquil eyes that were beaming with the divine flame. He said, ”Then, do people like you know what you're fighting for?”
Ning Que gently lifted his brows. He had no intentions to reply because his words would be meaningless at this point.
Hengmu Liren slowly stood up. His body, that was dressed in green, was exposed as the curtains around the sacred sedan fluttered. He was surrounded by a powerful yet quiet aura.
A sound came from afar echoed throughout the entire Yangzhou City. The robust voice was filled with certainty.
”I'm Haotian's son. I am deeply in love with the human world. I fight for the human world and I fight for Haotian. Therefore, I will acquire the eternal triumph!”
Ning Que suddenly released the knife in his hand after he heard Hengmu's words. He rolled up the sleeves of his black uniform as he said, ”This is a coincidence that I don't like. But, I have to admit that I've been fighting for her too.”
He had arrived before the sacred sedan as he finished his sentence.
An abrupt wind swirled by and agitated the curtains. The curtains were torn into pieces. Before the pieces could form a spiral in the wind, Ning Que had intruded the sedan and stood right before Hengmu Liren.
At this moment, the tiles that were covering the street broke into pieces. The wind blew and the dust on the ground whirled in eddies of wind. With his inconceivable power and speed, he let loose a full-blown eruption of ferocity.
Ning Que stared at Hengmu Liren.
In fact, this was his first meeting with Hengmu Liren other than their previous and only meeting via Steel Arrow. It was only natural for them to forgo the greeting. Before he even had the chance to take a clear look at the face of this young man, he threw a punch directly at Hengmu.
His punch was as tough as the Min Mountain. He could even crack the sky with his punch. Thus, no matter how strong Hengmu Liren was, he would eventually have to admit his utter defeat.
A startled expression painted over Hengmu Liren's youthful face as he saw the punch that was coming at him. He always thought that Ning Que was a strong enemy. Yet, he did not expect him to act so speedily and mercilessly.
Indeed, Ning Que intended to be the first to attack. He wished to use his many experiences in battle to overpower this Taoist boy who owned a powerful state but knew nothing about battle.
He was able to maneuver his attack perfectly after he had opted his fist over the knife. That was the reason why he could attack with astonishing speed and terminated all the other possibilities in that battle.
Ning Que believed that Hengmu Liren would eventually be able to counter with an attack. However, there was absolutely no way for him to summon Tianqi and he would not be able to defend himself from Ning Que's fist, which was really as big as a claypot.
A loud bang echoed across the streets of Yangzhou City. It was much more terrifying than Hengmu Liren's menacing words from before. Resembling arrows, the broken pieces of the curtains around the sacred sedan were shot toward every direction.
Hengmu Liren lowered his head to look at his chest with a contemptuous grin on his face. A thin layer of tranquil light was beaming around his entire body. He opened his arms wide as he looked into the sky.
Ning Que's punch failed to knock him down. In fact, Ning Que's fist had not come in contact with his body at all. That thin layer of tranquil light gradually settled down and formed an indestructible armour that was shielding his body and blocking all the forces that was acting at him!
The two unalloyed Haotian's divine flames were burning on his palms! A powerful beam of force came from the vault of heaven and was continuously infusing into this body. That was Tianqi!