Chapter 705: His Highness Duke of Qin’s reward 2 (2/2)
“Exactly. Your Highness Duke of Qin, didn’t you hire us top experts of Carefree City? What do you mean by this?”
“Your Highness Duke of Qin, there’s no reason to a one-on-one duel here. Everyone’s come today, so we can’t simply leave empty handed!”
Each and every word of complaint was rooted in the belief that Long Feiye wouldn’t win this fight. Qi Yaotian had once tried to coax the Carefree City city lord to put Long Feiye and Han Yunxi on their blacklist. He had experienced Long Feiye’s skills firsthand, but even he didn’t believe that the man would beat Lady Leng Yue.
There were five well-known masters in the jianghu. If one ranked them in terms of martial arts skills from greatest to least, then they would be: Celestial Mountain Sword Sect’s master, Li Jianxin, Celestial Mountain Sword Sect’s head elder, Cang Qiuzi, Tang Clan’s (former) clan head, Tang Zijin, Carefree City’s city lord Qi Zonglin2, and the City of Daughters’ city lord Lady Leng Yue.
Long Feiye was outstanding amongst the younger generation, but he couldn’t even make the lists against his elders.
“Your Highness Duke of Qin, we’re here to take revenge. Why duel one-on-one? Everyone should attack at once!”
“That’s right. That old demoness Leng Yue wrecked so many of our jianghu compatriots. Today, we have to join hands and kill her once and for all.”
All of the martial artists wanted to step forward. Han Yunxi looked down on their actions even if she disliked the City of Daughters. It was obvious they wanted to gang up on Lady Leng Yue! By contrast, the Carefree City group was much better behaved. Despite their complaints, they remained where they were.
Long Feiye swept his sword aside to block the jianghu members. “Don’t blame your lordship’s blade for being indiscriminate if you dare to interfere!”
He wasn’t joking, because he slashed with his weapon as soon as he spoke. Its sword awn swept out in a vast arc that left a deep cut across the ground, startling the jianghu faction into backing away. Lady Leng Yue and Carefree City’s fighters were alarmed as well. They never thought Long Feiye would have such vast reserves of internal energy to manage such a slash. All they knew now was that they’d underestimated the man, especially Lady Leng Yue herself. She realized that he had just been cooperating with Han Yunxi back there instead of exerting full force.
Just how powerful is this young man?
Not daring to underestimate him further, she took up her sword and split it into two blades again. Long Feiye purposely adjusted himself until he was facing her directly. Silence fell upon the scene. From the carriage, Han Yunxi looked out nervously.
Suddenly, Long Feiye and Lady Leng Yue moved at the same time in a surprise attack. There was a clang as their blades met midway, glowing with energy. But it was obvious that Long Feiye’s weapon shone the brighter to overwhelm Lady Leng Yue’s. Soon enough, he pressed forward until Lady Leng Yue was forced to block him with both hands on her hilt. But her other, free-flying blade had long reversed to fly towards Long Feiye’s back. In this situation, Long Feiye’s only choice was to evade the blow, which would give Lady Leng Yue the chance to counter his strike. If she was fast enough, he’d be in definite danger. An exchange between experts could be determined by seconds alone.
Moments before the second blade stabbed into his back, everyone held their breaths. But a sudden burst of true qi next exploded from Long Feiye’s form to send the incoming weapon flying backwards!
Heavens! He’s suppressing Lady Leng Yue without any support from his internal energy? That outburst of true qi was terrifying.
Seeing this, everyone was stunned and shocked. Just how much true qi has this young man accumulated in the past few years? It’s too unexpected!
Between experts, exchanging blows was only secondary to one’s internal energy reserves! Long Feiye’s show today proved that he deserved to stand amongst the elders. But could he defeat Lady Leng Yue?
She was bearing the brunt of his onslaught while unable to summon her other sword. Completely stuck, she could only hold out and fight Long Feiye’s internal energy with her own. Despite her shock, she still refused to believe that his reserves could best hers. And yet, he only pressed closer until she was forced to lean back.
Only two sword lengths separated him and her. His blade pushed against her own, which was already pressed against her body. If Long Feiye used a little more force, he’d end up killing her by her own weapon. Lady Leng Yue’s back was soaked in sweat as her face dripped with perspiration. She was already using her full reserves of internal energy to fight against Long Feiye, whose icy expression and even breathing made it obvious that he was still holding back. As everyone watched flabbergasted, Long Feiye lowered his voice.
“Leng Yue, your lordship will give you one last chance. Tell me just who it was that hired you to kidnap Grand Concubine Yi!”
Lady Leng Yue grew stunned. In the end, Long Feiye had still suspected the circumstances of the kidnapping despite Bai Yanqing’s careful machinations.
“Will you confess or not?” Long Feiye asked.
“I won’t!” Lady Leng Yue would never betray Bai Yanqing.
Long Feiye smiled coldly. “As expected, there’s a mastermind behind the scenes.”
Only then did Lady Leng Yue realize she’d fallen into a trap. Long Feiye not only suspected the events at Lost Void Lake, but also her own involvement in the mess.
No!
Even if she lost her life, she wouldn’t fall into Long Feiye’s hands. Her life belonged to Bai Yanqing, so she’d never betray him. Ignoring him, she steeled her resolve and gave up all resistance, preparing to die by her blade.
And yet…
1. Leng Bingling (冷冰凌) – her name literally means “cold icicle.”
2. Qi Zonglin (齐宗霖) – Qi is a surname meaning “neat, uniform, even,” Zong is “ancestor, clan, sec, principal aim/purpose,” Lin is “continuous rain.”