139 Chapter 138: Dine and Dash (1/2)
Zhu Jiao would probably be thinking something along the lines of Yan Qing Wu's cultivation being two levels higher than his and all that bullshit. Again, I didn't buy the whole levels and stages and realms thing. However, it appeared that Yan Qing Wu was undeniably stronger than Zhu Jiao, so it was certainly wiser for him to flee.
Even Qi Lin, his master, had advised him to do so. Zhu Jiao wasn't idiotic to the point where he would linger around longer than necessary and wait for Yan Qing Wu to kill him. The moment he finished getting dressed and grabbed his spatial pouch and other loot that he found in the ancient tomb, he sprinted toward the direction where he came from.
”Thinking of leaving?”
Unfortunately for Zhu Jiao, Yan Qing Wu had gotten dressed faster than he had expected. Just as Zhu Jiao stepped into the tunnel where he came from, Yan Qing Wu emerged from the pool in an explosive jump and pursued him.
Despite running as quickly as possible, Zhu Jiao was still unable to shake her off. Glancing around, he decided that the narrow corridor might be more to his advantage, especially since his opponent seemed to be faster than him. By choosing a narrow space, he would be able to limit the directions from where Yan Qing Wu attacked.
”You cannot escape.”
Yan Qing Wu declared coldly, unaware that Zhu Jiao already realized this. Thanks to her footwork and qigong, she was steadily closing in on Zhu Jiao with her superior speed. Zhu Jiao understood that he might have the advantage in terms of raw power (but not qi, apparently – I had no idea why they decided whether someone was stronger based on cultivation level and realms instead of, you know, physical strength).
”If you want to fight, then I'll entertain you!”
Spinning around suddenly, Zhu Jiao punched with his newly acquired treasure gauntlets, his fist exploding with golden qi.
”!!”
Yan Qing Wu flipped her body in midair, her divine reflexes allowing her to avoid a fatal hit. She spun around, crunching her legs against the ceiling and shaking loose a shower of stones, and then lunged at Zhu Jiao.
”Black Moon Shine!”
Yan Qing Wu slashed with the black, curved saber in her hands. Her body seemed to momentarily disappear into a blur reminiscent of black lightning and she suddenly materialized in front of Zhu Jiao. Between them, a black arc of qi rippled forward in a destructive manner, a dark crescent moon that carved toward Zhu Jiao.
”Hah!”
Using Golden Kirin Divine Fist, Zhu Jiao punched with all his might, fiery golden yang qi flaring up around his body. The sudden surge of speed and light took Yan Qing Wu by surprise, causing her to feel a chill run down her spine.
Even so, she refused to retreat and struck with all her strength.
Boom!
A cloud of qi detonated as their treasure weapons clashed and the two of them sprang apart in a shower of sparks.
”What impressive power!”
Yan Qing Wu frowned as she skidded backward. This was the first time she had faced off against a formidable opponent who was from her own generation. Previously, she had dominated anyone who fought against her, as long as they were around the same age and from the same generation. Only the much older masters were able to overpower her with their years of experience and cultivation. Similarly, while she was powerful, she still hadn't forged a solid foundation of combat experience and cultivation to build upon yet.
She originally planned to return to her sect and master the Tian Sha Sect's saber techniques to build a solid foundation for her saber arts, which would allow her to truly comprehend the essence of her Black Moon Saber skills.
The moment she mastered the essence of her Black Moon Saber skills, then her abilities would be amplified by at least two times. No one in her generation should theoretically be able to beat her.
Theoretically. Just like Li Xue Wu earlier, the disciples of the Tian Sha Sect were like frogs in the well. Sure, their masters and elders went around massacring poor villages and exterminating small, minor orthodox sects, but the disciples had yet to actually test their skills in a true battlefield. They only picked on the weak and the vulnerable, avoiding battles against the strong and powerful. Thanks to that bully mentality, the disciples of the Heavenly Fiends Sect lacked proper combat experience and were at a disadvantage when coming up against a proper foe.
Even so, Yan Qing Wu was incredibly talented – a Six Star Constitution cultivator, at that. Once she mastered her saber skills and earned the relevant combat experience, she would truly become a monster who could slay even the most seasoned veterans in the martial arts world with a single swing of her saber.
”Hu…”
Zhu Jiao exhaled as he shook his hand, watching his enemy warily. He recognized her limitless potential and her overbearing strength. If he wasn't armed with a spirit armament, then he would be no match for her.
Fortunately, with his Heavenly Golden Draconic Gauntlets, he was now several times stronger than previously, when he was unarmed.
Thanks to Qi Lin, he had mastered his Golden Kirin Sacred Beast techniques to their utmost limits, and he was able to deflect even the fastest saber strikes without receiving any damage. If he hadn't received training from his master, Zhu Jiao reflected that he would have been dead at least twice during the past exchange.
He was glad he had endured Qi Lin's harsh training without giving up.
”Those techniques…aren't they the Golden Kirin Sect's Sacred Beast techniques? Wasn't the sect supposed to be extinct for centuries? No…are you perhaps the direct disciple of the Golden Kirin Sect?”
Yan Qing Wu was still trying to wrap her mind around her opponent's unexpected strength. Zhu Jiao shrugged casually and replied with a question of his own.
”Are you an inner sect disciple of the Tian Sha Sect?”
As I said before, the Tian Sha Sect, also translated as the Heavenly Fiend Sect, was a demonic sect which boasted a lot of members and was currently one of the top three demonic sects lurking in the territory of the Great Zhou Empire. They were slightly stronger than at least half of the eight major orthodox sects, and they viewed themselves as the most powerful, even more so than the other two top demonic sects.
That was why the disciples of that sect were so domineering and tyrannical, bullying the weak and plundering whatever they wanted.
Zhu Jiao realized that he had gotten himself into a troublesome predicament. Having inadvertently seen Yan Qing Wu's naked body, he understood that he had just caused her to hold a grudge against him.
”Gouge out both of your eyes right now and I will consider sparing your life,” Yan Qing Wu demanded coldly.
Zhu Jiao snorted. ”Are you kidding me? I wasn't the one who asked you to take off your clothes. In fact, I didn't even know you were there. If you didn't come out to attack me, I wouldn't have seen you in the first place. Don't you think the whole ordeal was caused by your own actions? Besides, why do I need you to spare my life?”
”Damn you…do you really think I will not be able to kill you? Die!”
Yan Qing Wu was filled with rage. She surged forward, swinging her black curved saber aggressively, seeking to cleave Zhu Jiao in half. Her strikes came from all directions at high speed with unerring precision, the Tian Sha Sect inner disciple pouring every bit of her strength into her attacks. The blade was so fast it turned into a black streak that was too fast for normal human eyes to follow, slicing toward Zhu Jiao from everywhere.
Fortunately, Zhu Jiao was not a normal human.
Clang!
He evenly met and turned away every strike from her blade, parrying her saber with his shining gauntlets. Sparks flew out and rained on both of them, but neither of them paused as they continued to clash ferociously with each other.
It wasn't just Yan Qing Wu. Even Zhu Jiao was moving at an incredible speed, his arms and gauntlets disappearing into golden blurs as he lashed out to counterattack while simultaneously defending against Yan Qing Wu's attacks. Their maneuvers, attacks and blocks were so fast that even an average martial artist from Wu Ling Academy would find it difficult to trace and follow their movements or the trajectories of their armaments.
Yan Qing Wu slashed again with all her strength, but Zhu Jiao met her squarely, his formidable defense refusing to give way. He knocked her back and countered with a punch, but she deftly twisted her body in midair to dodge, balanced her foot across the ground gracefully before answering with a riposte that terminated against Zhu Jiao's other gauntlet.
Neither was giving an inch or yielding their ground. They continued trading hundreds, if not thousands of blows without stopping, time dragging on for much longer than either of them anticipated. Both of them found themselves sucked into a stalemate. They were on par with each other, neither side able to gain the advantage over the other.
Yan Qing Wu was faster, more agile and had denser qi.
Zhu Jiao was physically stronger, sturdier and more experienced.
It was like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, or a spear attempting to pierce an unbreakable shield…well, the shield clearly was harder than the spear, but it lacked the means to attack the lighter and more mobile spear.
”Ugh…”
Yan Qing Wu was growing more frustrated. She couldn't allow this shame to pass, and she continued to throw her all into the duel.
”Die!”
Don't antagonists ever get tired of yelling that stupid word? It was getting meaningless, especially since nobody actually died whenever the enemy shouted that. I was pretty sure there was a curse attached to it…
Anyway, Yan Qing Wu suddenly held her saber in both hands and unleashed a powerful strike that almost took Zhu Jiao by surprise.
Whoosh!
Chaotic black lightning filled the space between them, ripping through the air with a thunderous shriek.
Yan Qing Wu had finally resorted to releasing her black saber qi. Well, actually, she had already unleashed it several times before, but she had mostly relied on her saber techniques to fight Zhu Jiao. She did realize that those physical saber techniques alone wouldn't be sufficient to overcome Zhu Jiao, and she was resorting to more esoteric means.
”That's really fast!”
Zhu Jiao was almost taken aback by the speed of her attack, but his golden aura flared up and he was able to create a dense field of yang qi that dispersed the black lightning into harmless specks of shadowy qi.
”My turn!”
Zhu Jiao threw his fist out and unleashed his own golden qi as a response to Yan Qing Wu's attack, firing out a Golden Kirin Holy Blast.
”Damn it…!”
Finally, Zhu Jiao's decision to bring the fight to such a confined space bore fruit. Yan Qing Wu was almost unable to avoid the Golden Kirin Holy Blast completely, even as she jumped high up and flattened herself against the ceiling. Gritting her teeth, she slashed with her black curved saber and dissipated some of the destructive qi.
”What power…!”