Chapter 34 (1/2)

34 – Storming the Heavenly Sword Gate

“What did the Empty City Sect say?” Hua Tianji paced back and forth in the study.

In the past half a month, he has sent numerous envoys to visit various sects to form an alliance, but the reply he received was either a tactful refusal or a delay. In short, no one agreed to his request.

Those scoundrels want to watch from the sidelines!

Just like the Heavenly Sword Gate, the Empty City Sect was a second-tier sect, and its Sect Master has stepped into the Heaven Realm a year earlier than Hua Tianji. Nevertheless, it was slightly weaker than the Heavenly Sword Gate.

Anyway, if the other party agreed to his proposal, Hua Tianji would have the confidence to challenge the Merak Palace.

But events don't happen as one wishes.

“I didn't see the Sect Master Lin… they said he was sick.”

“Sick? What sick?” Hua Tianji sneered, “Can a majestic Heaven Realm expert get so easily sick?”

“But Sect Master Lin wrote a letter that was given to me by his disciple. Here it is, Gate Master.” With that, Liang Bozhong took out a letter from a fold of his clothing with his only remaining left hand and handed it to Hua Tianji.

Frowning, he opened the envelope, and four words quickly appeared before Hua Tianji's eyes.

… you're on your own.

“Nice one, Lin Yu! You d.a.m.n catamite who likes to dress up as a woman! You even kick a man down on his luck?”

In a fit of rage, Hua Tianji tore the letter Lin Yu wrote to him to pieces.

“Gate Master…” Liang Bozhong cried out worriedly, yet what he got in return was a vicious glare.

Hua Tianji's eyes fell on Liang Bozhong's empty sleeve, and his fury extinguished as if fire doused by water and disappeared without a trace, and then was replaced by…

… bleakness.

If I had known it would come to this! Hua Tianji lamented.

There were clearly many questionable points, so why did I agree to it at the time? Hua Tianji sighed, and the words “blinded by greed” welled up in his mind.

“Gate Master, do we seek out other sects?”

No! Hua Tianji felt like saying this out loud, but under the current circ.u.mstances, he couldn't act impulsively.

With a pained expression on his face, he looked at the ceiling for a long time before replying in a hoa.r.s.e voice: “Liang Bozhong, try your luck again and go to the Lion Mountain Sect.”

Hua Tianji felt sorrow. He still remembered how he looked disdainfully at the Lion Mountain's Sect Master who has come to congratulate him that day.

But now, he was looking for help from the other party.

He was just like a shooting star in the sky, his time of glory short lived.

Suddenly, a shocking aura emerged.

The moment after Hua Tianji has noticed that the aura was rus.h.i.+ng towards him, the other party has already arrived.

So fast! Hua Tianji pushed Liang Bozhong who was standing there absentmindedly away, and then quickly dodged backwards.

He saw a lightning bolt pa.s.s through the roof of the study, and then land not far in front of him along with a rumble.

The strong impact shook everything and blew the furniture inside the study away. Even Liang Bozhong couldn't withstand the impact, and was flung away. Only Hua Tianji with his sleeve protecting his face was fine.

The fearsome and majestic aura, the pair of golden eyes that shone brightly despite the dense cloud of dust, it all was very familiar to Hua Tianji.

It's her! It's that monster who persevered despite being poisoned and was labeled as a mobile natural disaster.

Hua Tianji didn't expect that she would storm into the Heavenly Sword Gate like this.

However, he wasn't given time to think much about the situation.

A dark shadow shot out from within the cloud of dust and rushed towards Hua Tianji with the force of thunder.

It was a long chest.

Spinning his body, Hua Tianji infused true qi into his foot and kicked the chest away.

The air current raised by the chest blew the dust away, and a pet.i.te figure was revealed.

The pet.i.te figure gently leaped up. A slender, slightly crooked leg erupted with amazing strength that came from G.o.d knows where and stamped the chest that was even taller than the figure herself on the ground.

“… Xue Qi Lin.” Hua Tianji clearly enunciated the girl's name. At the same time, his forehead broke out with cold sweat.

The girl's bloodthirsty eyes and curled lips reminded Hua Tianji that the other party didn't come here to have tee.

“Good evening, Little Ji, I'm relieved to see you in high spirits.”

Although her face was clearly full of smiles, but Hua Tianji couldn't feel a trace of warmth from her. Instead, her smile concealed a thick darkness.

It wasn't hate nor anger, but something darker, just like the mud at the bottom of a swamp. It was repulsive.

Enduring the repulsive feeling, Hua Tianji pretended to be calm and said: “I didn't know that you will come here, Senior Xue, so please excuse my lack of manner. What might have brought you here, Senior Xue?”

“Ohhhh, Little Ji, you're such a capricious fellow! Didn't you want me as a guest before? Why do I feel like I'm no longer welcome here?”

This sharp-tongued Xue Qilin!

“But, Senior Xue, you don't look like a guest! Is there a visitor who destroys the roof of the host?”

“A guest from afar… even if uninvited, is still a guest!”

This shameless Xue Qilin! The corner's of Hua Tianji's mouth twitched.

“To jump strait into the tiger's den, how audacious, Senior Xue.” As he spoke, he looked outside the door where the alarmed Elders of the Heavenly Sword Gate have gathered from the corner of his eye.

“I just came to fight the tiger. However, if other critters b.u.t.t in, then I'll just kill them.” Xue Qilin looked pleased with herself, “I remember you people from the Heavenly Sword Gate calling me a monster… When the tiger sees this monster eyeing it, does it still have the luxury to get distracted?”

“… Senior Xue, are you not afraid of being criticized by Demimonde for being too cruel?”

“Who cares!” Xue Qilin spread her arms and uttered helplessly, “Anyway, whether I'm cruel or not depends on whether you want the entire Heavenly Sword Gate buried alongside you or not.”

She's threatening me! If I let the Elders help me, then she'll kill them at the first opportunity.

Now that the tables were turned, the Heavenly Sword Gate will be getting further and further behind the Merak Palace, and might even be ruined at a stroke.

She's right, I wouldn't dare. Hua Tianji gnashed his teeth hatefully.

As if she has recalled something, Xue Qilin patted her forehead, “Almost forgot! Little Ji, I sent you a gift, yet you didn't appreciate my kindness, and simply kicked the gift away.”

Listening to Xue Qilin's complaint, it took Hua Tianji a bit of time to understand what the gift she talked about was. It was the chest, the coffin below her feet.

Being insulted to this point, Hua Tianji couldn't bear it any longer.

He infused true qi into the greatsword at his waist, and the sword responded with an excited cry and flew into his hand.

Preemptive strike! Hua Tianji drew his greatsword, the scabbard shot out, and quickly stabbed at Xue Qilin.

The smile that met him gave the illusion that it extended from ear to ear.

Xue Qilin revealed a weird, discomforting smile, and then pointed with her right index finger and drew a circle in the air.

With just such a simple movement, the scabbard infused with true qi shooting at her like an arrow stopped in midair as if it was entangled by an invisible rope.

How queer! But…

There was already a pair of golden eyes right under his nose, in which Hua Tianji could clearly see his dignified face reflected.

The shadows suddenly came from below and swallowed Xue Qilin's figure.

A penetrating sound reverberated in the air.

As Hua Tianji has expected, his sword strike didn't succeed. If it was so simple to kill the other party, then Hua Tianji wouldn't need to work so hard to to capture her previously.

But his sword still hit something.

It was the coffin.

Although everything happened in the blink of an eye, but Hua Tianji still saw Xue Qilin kick the coffin with great force and the coffin shot to block him like a bullet.

“Break!”

You want to stop me with this? Hua Tianji infused true qi into his sword, and then the coffin disintegrated into countless woodchips.

At this time, along with flashes of lightning, Xue Qilin's domain appeared out of thin air.

“A b.i.t.c.h is best suited to be made into a s.h.i.+sh kebab!”

There was a rapid change in his field of view, and Hua Tianji vaguely saw Xue Qilin smile grimly.

Was there something inside? This thought has just bubbled up in Hua Tianji's mind, when numerous short spears shot out from the woodchips and filled his field of view.

Despicable! Hua Tianji gritted his teeth.

Caught off guard, he couldn't take back the greatsword in time, so he infused his true qi into his left hand, and then slapped out and used the recoil to shot back.

However, the attack was faster than his retreat.

Hua Tianji used his hand as a sword and thrust it at the short spears covered in a cold gloss or slapped at them, flicking them away.

However, some still slipped through the cracks.

A short spear brushed past his hand and pierced into his arm. In the nick of time, he instinctively bent backwards, and a short spear carrying a strong wind swept past his nose.

When he straightened his back, he saw a ribbon split in two fall in front of his eyes. It was the hairband that he used to tie his hair.

“Gate Master!” “Teacher!”

Exclamations came from the crowd outside the door. Hua Tianji took a deep breath and raised his hand to stop everyone who was ready to move.

“I'm fine.” Even though he said so, his eyes still didn't leave Xue Qilin for a second.

So fast! Several times faster than the large crossbow bolts.

Looking at the nine short spears that have returned to Xue Qilin's side at some point in time, Hua Tianji was shocked.

These short spears dark gray in color should be entirely formed from darksteel. But the most striking thing was the electric arcs that danced on their surface from time to time.

In response to the flickers of lightning inside Xue Qilin's domain, the short spears changed their positions.

Is it related to that weird domain? Hua Tianji's mind was revolving lightning fast.

“Little Ji, what's with that frightened expression? I had these short spears specially made for you.” Xue Qilin smiled sweetly, but the smile crept Hua Tianji out, “What do you think? Not bad, right?”

Monster.

At the same time, he was glad that he didn't let other people help him. Otherwise, these short spears alone would have reaped many lives.