Chapter 16: The Slaying of Long Sun Ji

"Impossible, this is absolutely impossible. How could you possibly do this..."

"Damn it! I should have killed you the moment I first laid eyes on you."

"Beyond sword qi, ultimate strength is the very foundation of my martial dao!"

The expression on Zhangsun Ji’s pale, greenish face was complex. Shock, disbelief, and confusion swirled within him. He simply could not understand how Yang Le had survived his supposedly fatal strike.

How could he possibly still be alive? His cultivation, his martial arts, his weapon—everything was inferior. His bloodline was that of a human, the most humble and ant-like existence under the Great Qian Empire’s martial hierarchy. He, on the other hand, was a pure-blooded Green Bull demon, untainted by a single drop of human blood.

Furthermore, this was Cangzhou, a place known as the wasteland of martial arts, where the techniques in circulation were nothing but tattered fragments from centuries ago—the lowest of the low.

How! How could he possibly survive his sword qi?

"Nothing is impossible. Take this sword of mine."

Yang Le gave Zhangsun Ji no time to ponder, nor did he offer any explanation. He pointed his sword directly at him. In his mind, the Azure Cloud Sword Technique flickered, and a second later, his blade danced through the air.

The Azure Cloud Sword Technique began by fusing the essence of wind into the blade, prioritizing speed. It was a path of killing with blindingly fast strikes. While its power might not match the "heavy sword without edge" style, it was still a supreme path of the sword.

When Yang Le first saw the description of the Azure Cloud Sword Technique, two words had crossed his mind: "Scraping."

Extremely fast scraping.

But now, empowered by traits like Dual-Sword Style and Sword Dao Divinity, and further integrated with the seven methods of sword fusion, he didn't know if others found the Azure Cloud Sword Technique to be mere "scraping." But in his hands, it was both fast and ferocious.

Before him, Zhangsun Ji, clad in heavy armor and wielding a horizontal blade, was nothing more than a target in Yang Le’s eyes. With every passing second, Yang Le’s blade flashed multiple times.

Within one second, Zhangsun Ji’s heavy iron armor shattered completely, clattering to the ground with dull thuds.

Within three seconds, the qi within his seventh-rank dantian was utterly destroyed.

Within five seconds, Zhangsun Ji’s body was covered in deep, bone-reaching lacerations.

...

Within ten seconds, Yang Le stopped. He leaped back several meters and fixed his gaze upon Zhangsun Ji.

"Still not falling? The constitution of a seventh-rank martial artist is truly unexpected."

Yang Le sheathed his sword. Zhangsun Ji was no longer recognizable as human, his body riddled with countless sword marks. Crimson blood pooled on the ground, and fragments of dark yellow skin and flesh were scattered everywhere. Zhangsun Ji’s breathing sounded like a muffled, frantic bell. His internal vitality was nearly depleted. Yang Le knew he was dying.

"You forced my hand, I..."

"Sorry, I, Yang Le, never hold back."

Just as Yang Le paused, Zhangsun Ji suddenly fished a medicinal pill from his blood-stained tunic, intending to swallow it. Just as he was about to consume it and fight for his life, Yang Le struck again.

A sword thrust pierced his heart. Without hesitation, Yang Le pulled the blade out and drove it deep into the other side of his chest.

The Great Qian Empire was full of demons, and their martial arts were strange and unpredictable. Yang Le couldn't be sure if Zhangsun Ji possessed a secret method for having two hearts or some form of resurrection. Piercing both sides of the chest was the safer route.

As for letting Zhangsun Ji take the pill before fighting? Apologies, but Yang Le did not care for "martial honor." Knowing that the pill might give his opponent a final burst of strength and choosing not to kill him anyway? That would be foolish. And Yang Le was not a fool.

"You... you aren't human, are you?"

Zhangsun Ji’s heart had been thoroughly shredded by Yang Le’s blade; he was at death’s door. Even in his final moments, he refused to believe Yang Le was human.

"..."

For a moment, Yang Le didn't know how to respond to that.

"Die."

He simply didn't hesitate, preparing to decapitate Zhangsun Ji with a single stroke.

"By the way, I also know that sword qi you mentioned."

In an instant, a green-tinted glow shimmered on Yang Le’s blade. "It’s just that there was no need to go to such lengths to kill you."

As Yang Le’s sword qi severed Zhangsun Ji’s head, the final glimmer of sight before death caught a glimpse of Yang Le’s own sword qi. He truly hadn't expected that even in such a situation, Yang Le had still been holding back.

...

"Master, you really don't look like a human..."

Once the head was severed and Zhangsun Ji’s life force had vanished, Li Qi'er returned to Yang Le’s side. Her face was flushed, her eyes filled with shock. "Truly, that’s not an insult."

In truth, the shock in Li Qi'er’s heart was no less than Zhangsun Ji’s. She hadn't expected Yang Le to be able to kill him, and certainly not so easily. It was as if Yang Le were the eighth-rank fighter and Zhangsun Ji the one outmatched. Yang Le was fiercer than a pure-blooded demon!

If not for the fact that there was no demonic qi in Yang Le’s body—only pure human essence—Li Qi'er would have mistaken him for a demon. And not just any demon, but a peerless prodigy of the contemporary Great Qian era. Even before her own family was destroyed, she had never seen such a monstrous human in the Central Plains.

"It seems I was wrong before. It’s not that it’s hard to find a pure sword cultivator; it’s that in the current Great Qian, he is the only one who can truly be called a human sword cultivator."

With Zhangsun Ji dead, Li Qi'er quietly reapplied the paper talisman to her abdomen. The colorful petals faded into dullness and vanished back into her skin. Looking at Yang Le, her resolve to master the sword grew firmer.

"Mother, I have walked the path you spoke of to escape this cage. Before, it was dark and seemed like a dead end, but now, it finally seems passable." Thinking of her late mother, Li Qi'er lost herself for a moment, but she suppressed the feeling a second later.

"Go on, go on, say something nice."

With the deadly enemy defeated, Yang Le naturally relaxed a bit, assuming Li Qi'er’s words were just playful banter. He didn't pay it much mind. The reason he could defeat a seventh-rank opponent while being only eighth-rank was something others couldn't grasp, but Yang Le understood it well. The effect of the "Sword Dao Divinity" trait was to boost all sword-related combat power by one hundred percent and allow him to ignore any bottlenecks. As a sword user, his own cultivation was naturally factored into that boost. An eighth-rank fighter might not be a match for a seventh-rank, but an eighth-rank boosted by such multipliers... killing a seventh-rank was only natural. If you have a cheat and still can't fight above your rank, wouldn't the cheat be a waste?

"Truly a demon..."

He glanced at the dead Zhangsun Ji. Sure enough, the human form was gone, replaced by a multi-meter-long bull body. "Was it because his martial cultivation was higher that even his head turned into a bull's?"

Yang Le felt a flicker of curiosity but didn't dwell on it. There was something more important waiting. He looked toward the house; he had heard that Zhangsun Ji had been preparing to make a breakthrough. There must be many good things inside. Killing someone and taking their loot was only natural. After all, after such a battle, his own sword... was already chipped and worn.