The Sword Dynasty

Chapter Thirteen Slaying The Serpent With A Blow

The thin man with thick jointed fingers under the umbrella did not know what Ding Ning was thinking right now. He methodically followed the two foreigners, calm and cold.

The Fish Market was still shrouded in rain. The water in the ponds were about to spill out, and the green grasses on the shores swayed with the waves.

The thick-browed young person and the handsome young person walked out of the city. Soon, the enormous towers standing in the wind and rain disappeared behind them.

There were many wooden pavilions alongside the road. One of them was coincidentally called Autumn Rain Pavilion.

This was an old and dilapidated pavilion filled with dried vines.

Looking at this dilapidated pavilion and the pedestrians hurriedly passing it by, mist rose in the handsome youth’s eyes. This small pavilion had been built to provide shelter for the passerby from the wind and rain. Yet the autumn wind and rain were fiendish. In weather like this when travel was hard, the passerby were in a hurry, and no one took shelter from the rain.

Life was the same. The path one took usually was not the same as what one first thought.

The thick-browed young person holding the umbrella did not have such feelings. Eve since walking out of Fish Market, his brow had been slightly furrowed, and the murderousness in his bright eyes grew thicker.

Seeing the handsome youth in front of him stop at this pavilion, he lowered and his voice and asked, “Here?”

The handsome youth nodded. “Here.”

The thick-browed young person started to get excited. “I am fighting?”

The handsome youth glanced at him, expression as calm as water. “The other is strong. This is Changling, we cannot waste too much time here, so it is suitable for you to fight.”

The thick-browed young person became even more excited. His left hand, which did not hold the umbrella, rubbed on his clothes as though he already started to sweat.

The handsome youth seemed to be in a better mood, smiling and walking into the small pavilion to wait silently.

The thick-browed young person thought for a moment and did not follow, standing under the umbrella outside the pavilion.

In the distance, on the road they came, a yellow canvas umbrella slowly appeared like a dried lily pad in the pond.

Seeing the thick-browed young man and the handsome youth stopping in the pavilion up ahead, the thin tall man under the yellow canvas umbrella frowned slightly. However, he had great confidence in himself so he did not stop at all in his stride. He walked until he was nearly ten meters away from the thick-browed young person before he stopped.

The thick-browed young person’s eyebrow raised up. He became even more excited. However, countless lessons and battles had taught him to not attack before he heard an order come from behind him.

“You are not a Qin person,” The handsome youth standing in the pavilion said coldly.

The thin tall man under the umbrella did not refute this. He said coolly, “It appears you are not Qin either.”

The handsome youth said calmly, “Not Qin. If the person killed is also not Qin, then it has nothing to do with the laws of the Qin Dynasty. No one will put energy into an investigation. You have planned well, I see you have no fear. I fear this is not the first time you have done business like this.”

Was this person fishing?

The thin tall man under the yellow canvas umbrella frowned. He looked suspiciously at the surrounding roads. After confirming that there were no hidden Qin chariots in the rain, he looked with more puzzlement at the calm and handsome youth. He asked, “Ordinary foreigners go through intermediaries when doing business in Fish Market and do not dare to show their wealth. You do not follow the rules, you also know what business I specialize in, yet you waited here for me. You also do this kind of business?”

“I had no interest in killing and robbery.” The handsome youth shook his head. “We will fight back only when people target us, this is our way of conduct. But you have great bravery in daring to follow after detecting this, you are a fearless and lawless person.”

The thin and tall man under the yellow canvas umbrella smiled. He said, “I am originally a serpent of the water, not a small fish or shrimp of Fish Market, of course I am different. Since I spent effort in following you, I have to see it through.”

His laughter was sincere, and his words were arrogant. In the next moment, before he finished speaking, he turned without hesitation. The yellow canvas umbrella headed towards the thick-browed young person while he fled into the rain like a wild stallion breaking free.

“You have some smarts. You understand to advance by retreat.”

The handsome youth looked at the thin and tall man furiously fleeing and smashing through the rain and mist. The youth sighed and lamented, “Since you have come, you are not the one to say if you can advance or retreat.”

After saying this, the handsome youth said to the thick-browed young person, “Now.”

When he said the word, the spinning yellow canvas umbrella edge was less than an inch away from the eyes of the thick-browed young person.

The hissing of the umbrella edges cutting the air and the rain told people of the power contained in the item. Yet the thick-browed young person stood motionlessly and looked excitedly at the thin and tall man behind the umbrella.

A sharp cry suddenly sounded in the air. A thin and light sword, so red it was black, flew out of the sleeve of the thick-browed young person like lightning.

On its path, it cut through the handle of the yellow canvas umbrella. In the next moment, the yellow canvas umbrella screamed and completely collapsed, crushed by the terrifying power.

The pupils of the thin tall man contracted. His skin felt tight as though it was being pricked by needles.

He was not an ordinary cultivator. He was an experienced dragon. This was why he dared to do something like this. But in his conversation with the handsome youth, he had been parried at every turn, especially his tactic of advance by retreat which was pointed out immediately.

While he felt nervous and had retreated, that yellow canvas umbrella was his test. If the other was not as strong as he imagined, then he would advance rather than retreat.

The thick-browed young person’s strength was more terrifying than he imagined!

Pew!

The flying sword, already at a terrifying speed, accelerated. Accompanied by a white burst of energy, it appeared in his sight!

The thin and tall man howled fiercely. A dozen lines of fire the thickness of a finger appeared in the surrounding space and burned away the mist surrounding him.

That small sword, which had disappeared in his sight, suddenly appeared behind his back and stabbed three times towards his back.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Three enormous explosions!

The dozen criss-crossing lines of fire blocking the flying sword were cut apart. The great force caused the thin and tall man to uncontrollably fly forward.

The thick-browed young man pressed his lips together and took a step forward.

With one step, he appeared perfectly in front of the thin and tall man who was flying back.

The large worn umbrella in his hand flew up. He pulled a large black sword out of the umbrella handle.

The thin and tall cultivator’s face was pale. He knew he was at the border of life and death. Pressed by the presence of death, he finally reached the limits of his strength. All of the vital energy in his body exploded out of the countless apertures in his body.

Countless wisps of true fire appeared in front of him. They seemed to form the shape of a red serpent that leapt towards the thick-browed young person.

He was right. He was not a small fish or shrimp in a pond, he was a serpent.

The serpent created from the true fire was even more terrifying than a true serpent. The droplets of rain pouring down were burned away in the flames.

The thick-browed young person’s damp clothing immediately dried. He did not even blink. He pulled out the large black sword from the umbrella handle and simply swung it forward.

A loud noise.

The large black sword, carrying countless terrifying primal energies of the universe, shattered the serpent made from true fire and then hit the thin and tall cultivator.

This did not seem like a sword, but a giant hammer!

An enormous hammer that could shatter even a mountain of steel!

“One … …”

The thin and tall man only said one urgent sound before the terrifying power shattered all the meridians and bones in his body. Like a weightless bag, he flew out.

The moment the sword hit him, he only had time to say one urgent word.

He felt distraught.

That “one” represented many things.

Of the seven disciples of the Zhao Sword Furnace, the first disciple was called Zhao Zhi. They said he had two swords, one “Crimson Fiend,” one “Mountain Breaker.” Yet the cultivators of all the dynasties were used to calling him “Zhao Yi.” 1

Unlike other masters of the sword who also used two swords, his two swords, one a flying sword, the other a close-combat sword, were not used to defend and attack. He used both to attack.

He only cultivated one sword move. Regardless of the opponent he faced, he would only have one sword fly out, and then smash with the other.

Rare were the people who could take on one of his strikes.

He managed to coincidentally encountered a cultivator of the Zhao Sword Furnace, and one of the seven disciples. The thin and tall cultivator felt that he had not died for nothing as he fell to the ground.

His shock and amazement even overcame his distress and the terror of death.

So First Mister Zhao was so young. So this was Fourth Mister Zhao.

Bones completely broken, he gathered strength from somewhere he did not know and raised his head slightly. He wanted to look again at the handsome youth in the pavilion.

So that was Fourth Mister Zhao.

The legendary Fourth Mister Zhao was so young and handsome.

All the cultivators in the world knew that, while Fourth Mister Zhao was the fourth disciple that master of the Sword Furnace took on, Fourth Mister Zhao had the highest cultivation of all the disciples. All the disciples of Sword Furnace took orders from Fourth Mister Zhao.

Even First Mister Zhao respected and followed Fourth Mister Zhao like a servant, listening to his every order.

This thin and tall cultivator finally managed to make out the shadow of the handsome youth in the pavilion.

He died, with some bewilderment, some surprise, and contentment.