Chapter 231: Taixuan Thunder Saber and Awards from the Imperial Court (1/2)

Chapter 231: Taixuan Thunder Saber and Awards from the Imperial Court

Translator: TransnEditor: Transn

It was a silent and moonless night with only scattered stars, forming a brilliant starry river across the sky. The way it gleamed gave the impression of countless blinking eyes overlooking the heaven and earth.

Junior Leopard stood in the deep valley where Xue Wuya once captured him, wearing a complicated expression.

”Is this the starry river I saw in my previous life?”

This was a bit of a funny thing to him. In his previous life, he often heard of the Milky Way as a child, but he had never seen what it was exactly.

Mostly, what he saw was the Big Dipper. Whenever he was bored in the evening, he would look up to the sky and fixed his eyes on the Big Dipper.

He hadn't seen the Big Dipper since coming to this world. Without the asterism, the sky here wasn't vastly different from the sky in his previous life. Perhaps, he didn't notice any besides the starry river that spanned the sky.

”Interesting. This world also has the 28 constellations and the same names as the earth, but there's no Big Dipper. Wonder how they classify the constellations. Now I've also become one of constellations in the sky!”

Junior Leopard lied in the valley in Misty Mountain, the exact same place where he killed Xue Wuya.

10 years had passed by. Junior Leopard didn't think he would still have a connection with Xue Wuya after killing him and leaving this godforsaken place as well as gaining profits from him.

Everything was beyond his expectations. He didn't expect to form a connection with Xue Wuya after 10 exact years.

Xue Wuya was also one of the 28 constellations in the Immortal Palace.

Wang She, the Chief of the Tian Long Taoism, was one. So was Xue Wuya, the expert in Blood River Sect of the Dark Sect.

Based on these two aspects, it was obvious how much power lied behind this unknown Immortal Palace.

However, this was not what he should be thinking about right now. He was collecting the Flickering Light Evil Qi. After practicing the Space Division Skill, a sudden interest brought him here. Those two places were close to each other. Based on his current power, he could arrive in several days. The surrounding poisonous insects and fierce beast wouldn't be an issue to him.

The only thing that disappointed him was he still didn't get to see that little thing this time.

The Space Division Skill was incredibly powerful and formidable but also gave rise to thoughts of cutting more spaces.

He could achieve the first effect of the Space Division Skill, though the space covered would only be within a 1,000-feet circumference. If he wanted to maintain it, he would have to consume much of his energy, making it a great burden to him. If he didn't have to worry about energy consumption, he could form a small barrier within a 10-feet radius. It could be useful to scare off others but useless in actual combat.

The second effect was what he valued most. It was actually his idea to cut a patch from real space to be his own independent space. After practicing the Space Division Skill, he could divide real space as much as he liked. After all, space could recover by itself and it didn't matter how much space he could take.

His idea was too simple and he was also being too greedy. The truth was the successful practice of the Space Division Skill still didn't give him the ability to divide space without restraint.

That was because the divided space needed to connect with the spirit. It was the only way it could be controlled and used. Otherwise, even if he could divide space into many pieces, they would disperse in the endless hollow like hydrogen balloons.

Moreover, space should connect with the spirit instead of the divine thoughts. If his divine thoughts could be connected, he could divide some and even send out his thoughts because his Carefree Skill had been practiced into a Divine Rush Object state. At most, he could divide 18 thoughts. What was more, even if those thoughts were destroyed, he could produce new thoughts again after his divine thoughts recovered. If the divine thoughts didn't reproduce, the thoughts wouldn't die. Meanwhile, the stronger his divine thoughts became, the more thoughts he could divide. When he could divide 81 thoughts, he could reach the next state of the Carefree Skill. It was certainly beyond his imagination now. Being capable of diving 18 thoughts while in the initial phase of the Divine Rush Object, his divine thoughts were far stronger than that of ordinary experts. In the future, even if he wanted to increase another thought, he needed to accumulate much more powerful divine thoughts.

It was a pity that the space divided using the Space Division Skill didn't connect with his divine thoughts but directly bound to his spirit. Divine thoughts were only a key to the space.

Thus, even though Junior Leopard had much stronger divine thoughts and large numbers of thoughts, they could only act as keys. Their bond with his spirit meant he couldn't divide additional space. He could only increase his cultivation and wait until his spirit become stronger to expand the capacity of his existing space.

Now, the size of his space was just enough to contain his two large hammers.

There was no more space for other things.

But that was enough to satisfy Junior Leopard, very much so.

At least, he didn't need to be vexed about those two large hammers any longer. He could just bring them wherever he went.

”Now that I'm carrying the two hammers with me, who would still dare to cause trouble for me? Isn't that right, Little Du?”

Junior Leopard patted Little Du's head with a smile.

”Hu, hu!” Little Du stuck out its tongue, licking Junior Leopard's hand intimately. Its eyes flickered, looking more intelligent than before. Of course, its body was also much smaller.

That was right. In the past, it was as big as a calf, but it was now the size of a small Pekingese dog. Its silver skin was clean and shining. When it bared its fangs, it gave off a chilling light. If it didn't widen the mouth, nobody would believe it to be an evil beast of spiritual intelligence.

Little Du could indeed be regarded as an evil beast. Its drastic change started from that Buyan Gerel.

Once, when Junior Leopard fought Buyan Gerel, the latter knocked Little Du unconscious. That caused Junior Leopard to bombard the unfortunate Buyan Gerel to death. Surprisingly, its fist intent neither faded nor vanished completely. Instead, most of it was absorbed by the comatose Little Du. Little Du fell into a deeper sleep and wouldn't wake. If not for Junior Leopard's deep connection with Little Du in their hearts telling him that, he would have worried about it for a long time.

Because Little Du was deeply asleep, Junior Leopard had to visit the remote prairie by himself. He was planning to bring Little Du with him so it could grow through fighting in the prairie.

Now Junior Leopard thought it was fortunate he didn't bring Little Du there. Otherwise, perhaps it would just be a burden to him after encountering Dark Lord Mie Chen in the Devil Valley.

There wasn't any use bringing up all these now. It just came to him when he saw Little Du.

It had been three months after he returned from the Immortal Palace. In that time, besides going home once, he spent almost all his time here to practice the Space Division Skill.

The wide-awake Little Du was his companion. While he practiced, it became the tyrant of the place and was also reponsible for supplying him with food.

After absorbing Buyan Gerel's fist intent, Little Du was stronger and smarter than before. In Junior Leopard's eyes, it was now akin to a 12-year-old child except it didn't have the ability to talk. With its companionship, he didn't feel fretful.

”Little Du, what do you think about this place?”

”Wu, wu, wu!”

”Haha! You think it's good? I think so too!” Junior Leopard patted Little Du's head and sat up. ”This place is really nice. If I feel tired someday, I'd go clean up the cave outside and live inside. That should be pretty nice!”

”Wu, wu, wu!”

”You also want to live inside? Okay, I'll build a lair for you and have you stay with me!”

”Wu, wu, wu!”

”Okay, okay, okay. Your lair will be a good one without a leaking roof,” Junior Leopard said, smiling.

With the increase of Little Du's spiritual intelligence and his spirit, their connection became closer and stronger, and their relationship better than before. When he had nothing to do, he would chat with Little Du. Thanks to their spiritual connection, it could express its feeling through a voice understandable to him even though it couldn't talk. The three months they spent here sharply improved the friendship between the man and the wolf.

”That's enough. Little Du, stop thinking about that. Your master has many things to deal with. How can I live in seclusion here leisurely?” Junior Leopard patted Little Du's head. ”Sleep now. We'll be returning tomorrow I'll be preparing for my duel with that little girl!”

He didn't take the duel against the girl from the Meng Family seriously at first. Meng Qingrong may be a talent rarely seen in over 100 years in the Meng Family in Ningzhou, but she was nobody compared to Junior Leopard.

As the madman who dared to mess with Dark Lord Mie Chen and also escaped unscathed, he had the confidence to face any foe in this world.

However, that didn't include the stranger in the thunder he saw the other day. He wasn't a person on the ground but in the heaven.

Meng Qingrong may be a talent and the Meng Family in Ningzhou may exert great influence, but they couldn't be stronger than Dark Lord Mie Chen and their force couldn't surpass the Palace of Destruction Demon.

However, he couldn't help raising his guard after receiving a particular news recently.

The duel this time had attracted great deal of attention in the martial arts world. Now, things were set over in the northern area. The numbers of martial arts masters in Northern Yuan had been dwindling, either killed by experts from the Central Plains or seeking refuge with other influences in the Palace of Destruction Demon and the Kun Lun Gilding Roof. The two greatest schools had obviously reached a certain tacit agreement and made compromises. There was no problem for the Northern Yuan masters to get to the territories of both schools for protection. They were taken in on the premise that they wouldn't go against Great Jin anymore, even assisting Great Jin when it was to conquer the prairie.

Two-thirds of those in the martial arts world had acquiesced helplessly while the remaining became horse thieves and bandits in the prairie. They became mere horse thieves and bandits after losing the backup force of Northern Yuan troops for their schools.

With the fame and influence of Northern Yuan, some well-known experts like the Four Wolves were hunted down by the experts Great Jin sent. Some were killed, while others escaped. It would be hard for them to see daylight again. Therefore, such horse thieves and bandits could only provoke small troubles and nothing major. At the same time, they were a lot less attractive to those of the martial arts world in Great Jin. They were just like homeless dogs, so it was unnecessary to dedicate too much energy to deal with them.

Thus, the martial arts world in Great Jin had long turned their focus away from Northern Yuan toward something else.

It was the duel between Zhou Bao, an Elder of the Wu Family, and Meng Qingrong, the young master of the Meng Family in Ningzhou!

It was a duel that had been agreed on two and a half years ago. Meng Qingrong, the most outstanding martial arts master in a hundred year in the Meng Family in Ningzhou, had left home to gain experience and met Zhou Bao, who was the Navy Commander of Jiang City. A fire sparked between them, leading to a violent fight that started a thousand-year legend in Jianghu.

In that fight, Zhou Bao, who had Level Four cultivation, not only defeated Meng Qingrong but also killed a Level Seven expert sent by the Meng Family to protect her in secret.

The fact that a Level Four person killed a Level Seven person pushed him to stardom, making him a true legend in Jianghu.

Later, Zhou Bao of the Wu Sect showed his excellent performance in the war against Northern Yuan. Though he didn't make many achievements, each battle he took part in was breathtaking and unbelievable.

While escorting the food and fodder, he killed the Level Eight expert Buyan Gerel, one of the Four Wolves of the prairie. He went deep into the prairie and returned with a half-dead Wang She, the chief of the Tian Long Taoism who was hunted down by Wan Li, one of the three Grandmasters.

Rumors had it that Junior Leopard rescued Wang She from Dark Lord Mie Chen and also cooperated with Wang She to injure Mie Chen severely, even digging out one of Mie Chen's eyes.

Though Junior Leopard's previous exploits were amazing, this rumored fight was enough to dwarf them all.

The martial arts world and Jianghu were always filled with rumors and what the pugilists often said was there was no smoke without fire.

Even Junior Leopard hadn't really taken out Mie Chen's eye, but it was Wang She who admitted that Junior Leopard had saved him. Thanks to that, the Tian Long Taoism owed Junior Leopard a great favor.

Thus, there was little suspense about the fight.

No one would think Meng Qingrong would win. Junior Leopard's strength was there for everyone to see. With the celestial device, he could fight directly with a Level Eight expert and bombard him to death.

As for Meng Qingrong?

Even if she was a genius who had the Meng Family, a powerful thousand-year family, backing her up, she couldn't close the gap in their strength.

Moreover, Junior Leopard wasn't a mere disciple who only had the Wu Sect in Yunzhou as his backer anymore. There was also the Tian Long Taoism.

Having saved Wang She's life, the Tian Long Taoism had publicly shown their support to him. With this, the Meng Family could only battle it out with Junior Leopard through a real duel rather than pressuring him using their family influence.

Now, Junior Leopard's victory was considered a sure bet in Jianghu. Of course, there were also several people with a fluke mind betting on Meng Qingrong.

Junior Leopard wasn't concerned about all these rumors in Jianghu. Neither success or failure meant much to him. Besides, he was even willing to throw the game if the Meng Family offered favorable enough conditions. Regretfully, as a result of the support of the Tian Long Taoism, the Meng Family didn't dare to bribe him. He was rather disappointed about this.