Chapter 732
Chapter 732
“Li Qianqiu, wouldn’t it have been better to remain on your island?”
To Yan Nanfei’s words, Li Qianqiu replied.
“To remain idle in the way of the sword may seem like seclusion, but it is no different from fleeing. It is far better to come out and slay one's enemies with relish.”
“Li Qianqiu, you will not be slaying your enemies with relish today.”
As Yan Nanfei said, the situation was indeed desperate. Their opponents had fifteen peak masters, ten of whom were Grandmasters. In contrast, Ning Zheng’s side had, at best, only one Grandmaster: Li Qianqiu.
Ning Zheng put on a mask. In battle, he would be breathing heavily, and inhaling too much cold air could severely damage his lungs. He then drew his longsword. Li Qianqiu, his wife Lady Qiu, Gao Duhuan, Big Dummy, and Tang Yan all drew their swords in unison. No matter how hopeless the battle, they had to fight to the end.
Just then, a hearty laugh echoed through the air.
“Hahahaha! Count Xue Che, Brother Yan Nanfei, it has been a long time. I have missed you all!”
It was Su Nan! The Privy Councilor of the Great Nan Kingdom, a man who had broken through to the realm of Grandmaster. He burst forth from the deep snow, sprinting up to the mountain peak like a galloping horse, and shook off the snow to reveal a silver spear. Having reached the summit, Su Nan couldn't help but exchange a look with Li Qianqiu. The workings of fate were truly unknowable. Once, the two had faced each other as mortal enemies, yet now they stood shoulder to shoulder, fighting a common foe.
“Your Highness Ning Zheng.”
“Lord Su.”
Watching Su Nan exchange greetings with Ning Zheng, Xue Che spoke.
“Lord Su Nan, I did not take you for one to so boldly rush to his death. As I recall, you cherished your life dearly.”
A moment later, a gaunt old man suddenly appeared.
“State Preceptor Si Yin of the Great Nan Kingdom greets his fellow disciples.”
He was the eldest among them, old enough to call them his disciples. A startled Yan Nanfei asked.
“You are a senior from the Great Calamity Temple?”
State Preceptor Si Yin replied.
“This old man no longer has any connection to the Great Calamity Temple. I am now merely the Grand Preceptor of the Great Nan Kingdom.”
State Preceptor Si Yin had once tried to burn himself to death before Shen Lang, and had even attempted to burn everyone in the capital of the Great Nan Kingdom. Though he appeared frail, he was undeniably a Grandmaster. Xue Che frowned slightly. Two Grandmaster-level experts had appeared for the enemy in an instant. This meant the battle would not be easy, but it was still a fight they could win.
“Is that everyone? If everyone who is coming has arrived, let us begin the battle.”
As soon as Xue Che finished speaking, another shadow leaped into view. It was the beautiful Grandmaster Banya, mistress of the Mo'an Dao Palace of the Chu State and the junior sister of the Old Demon of the Snowy Mountains, Lin Shang. She looked at Su Nan with a puzzled expression and said.
“Weren't you dead?”
Su Nan gave a bitter smile.
“It is a long story. Has Grandmaster Banya been well?”
Banya was extremely embarrassed. In the past, Su Nan had bribed her with an ancient classic to challenge Li Qianqiu. Since Banya had failed to defeat Li Qianqiu, she was supposed to return the gift. But when she later heard that Su Nan had died, she had felt a small sense of relief.
‘It’s not that I didn't want to return it, but Su Nan died, and the Su Clan was destroyed, so I couldn't return it even if I wanted to.’
But now, her creditor had reappeared, and she was in a very awkward position.
“My apologies. I do not have the item with me. I will return it to you later, Master Su.”
“There is no need. That item would be of no value in my hands. It is best that it remains with you, Grandmaster Banya. But how did you come to be here?”
Unable to contain his curiosity, Su Nan asked, and Banya replied.
“Someone made me an offer I could not refuse.”
Listening to their conversation, Xue Che’s frown deepened. A sense of unease crept into his heart.
‘Three Grandmasters for the enemy… This means Shen Lang anticipated today’s battle. This is no small matter. Shen Lang, that damn rascal, his cunning is truly monstrous.’
Yan Nanfei asked with a cold gaze.
“Are there any more to come?”
Then, another shadow leaped forth. It was a person whose skin was so pale it seemed translucent. It was Shen Lang's master, Grandmaster Wu Daozi.
“Senior Brother Meng? Senior Brother Yun?”
Upon his arrival, Wu Daozi let out a cry of surprise. He, too, had recognized two of the Grandmasters present. This was an incredibly awkward situation. Xue Che’s hair stood on end. The enemy now had four Grandmasters. He shouted.
“Are there more? Is anyone else coming? Why don't you all just appear at once?”
Soon, two more figures appeared: Grandmaster Xue Yin and Grandmaster Zhong Chuke. The two had finally revealed themselves. Ning Zheng's side now had six Grandmasters in an instant. Xue Che asked again.
“Is anyone else coming?”
It seemed there was truly no one left.
“If there is no one else, let the battle commence! Fate has brought us together for a decisive battle on this snowy peak. Your Highness Ning Zheng, your life must be left to the judgment of the heavens.”
With his words, the battle of the martial arts titans officially began.
Ning Zheng’s side had seven Grandmasters and five peak masters, while Xue Che’s side had ten Grandmasters and five peak masters. This was perhaps the first great battle between Grandmasters in the martial world in twenty years, and it was an utterly wondrous spectacle.
Half an hour after the battle began, the seventy-thousand-meter-high great snowy mountain had been sheared down by over ten meters. Another quarter of an hour passed.
Rumble.
A great roar echoed as the mountain crumbled and the earth split as if the very heavens and earth were shaking, and an avalanche erupted. The endless snow swept everything away, tumbling down in a frenzy. This was likely the first time in a thousand years that this mountain peak had revealed its bare rock. The entire snowy mountain trembled violently, halting the battle at the summit, and the two sides entered a standoff.
This battle was different from what they had imagined. Li Qianqiu, the strongest martial artist, did not display an astonishing level of combat prowess. However, three others far exceeded everyone's expectations: Grandmaster Banya, the Divine Maiden Xue Yin, and Big Dummy. While Banya and Xue Yin's skills were inferior to Li Qianqiu's on level ground, they demonstrated incredible combat strength on the snowy peak. The reason was simple: both had lived for a long time atop high-altitude mountains. The air here was thin and the temperature brutally cold, which greatly affected the performance of even Grandmaster-level experts. But for Banya and Xue Yin, it felt like fighting on their home ground. However, with three more Grandmasters on their side, Xue Che's faction still held the upper hand.
Li Qianqiu was wounded by a blade three times, and his wife's left wrist was severed. Gao Duhuan was struck five times by a sword, and Zhong Chuke was struck four times. On Xue Che's side, three Grandmasters were injured, and three peak masters were killed. The one who displayed the most surprising skill in this battle was, without a doubt, Big Dummy. He stuck close to Ning Zheng, protecting him, and his defense was so perfect that no one dared to approach. He did not swing his sword with incredible speed, nor did he employ anything more than ordinary swordsmanship. And yet, like an unyielding wall, his enemies could not break through.
Big Dummy had been stabbed in more than a dozen places and was bleeding profusely, but he seemed unfazed, his combat strength undiminished. It was natural for even Grandmaster-level experts to exhaust their internal energy after more than thirty minutes of intense fighting. Among them all, only Big Dummy’s combat strength did not wane; instead, he fought with ever-increasing valor.
* * *
Rumble.
The avalanche continued. The battle remained paused, with both sides in a standoff. Then, a deafening roar sounded, and the beautiful snowy mountain was stripped bare, revealing black rock. Its former beauty was nowhere to be found.
When the avalanche finally ended, Xue Che looked back at his men and saw they were still fit to fight. Li Qianqiu had returned to Ning Zheng’s side to protect him, while Big Dummy stood before them with his Heavy Iron Sword, ready to slaughter their enemies. By now, the internal energy of all the masters was mostly depleted, yet Big Dummy’s combat strength remained at its peak. Xue Che, Yan Nanfei, and the others were greatly astonished by this.
‘Is that the Golden Bloodline? Is it truly that formidable?’
The rank of Grandmaster meant nothing before it. At the beginning of the fight, a Grandmaster could overwhelm Big Dummy, which was why he had been stabbed over a dozen times. But Big Dummy’s ability to block was of the highest caliber. He parried nine out of ten of the Grandmaster's attacks, and though he was struck once, the wound was not life-threatening.
But if Big Dummy had become this strong, what about Qiu Yao'er? She was likely far stronger than before.
In any case, despite unexpectedly bringing ten Grandmasters, they had failed to kill Ning Zheng.
“Meditate to recover your internal energy, then we will begin a battle of attrition!”
At Xue Che’s command, the eleven men behind him immediately sat down cross-legged. The masters protecting Ning Zheng did the same. They had to use every moment to recover their internal energy. Gao Duhuan and Ning Zheng were reattaching the Sword King’s wife’s severed wrist. Ning Zheng heated the frozen medicinal wine to thaw it, then disinfected Lady Qiu's wound, while Gao Duhuan carefully stitched the severed part.
“Aunt, rest assured. Though I am not as skilled as the young master, if I stitch it up for now, we can save the hand. When we return, he can perform a more detailed surgery. The young master can even reattach the meridians and tendons.”
To Gao Duhuan’s words, Lady Qiu replied.
“It's fine. My left hand is not of much use anyway. It doesn't matter if it's severed.”
Hearing this, Sword King Li Qianqiu’s heart ached as if stabbed by a knife. The one who had cut off his wife’s arm was, once again, Yan Nanfei. They were already mortal enemies, and now another grievance had been added to the pile.
Just then, Wu Daozi approached Lady Qiu, took out a bottle of liquid, and applied it to her hand. This would help maintain its temperature in the dreadful cold. After the suturing was complete, he carefully bandaged her arm.
* * *
On one side, the battle of attrition began. The internal energy of the masters on both sides was nearly depleted, with only Big Dummy’s strength still surging endlessly. Thus, Xue Che’s side had no choice but to engage Big Dummy in a battle of attrition. Why not attack him all at once? As mentioned, their internal energy was at rock bottom, so they had to use every second to recover. If they didn't wear Big Dummy down with rotating attacks in the meantime, they would lose immediately.
Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack.
As everyone knew, fighting Big Dummy was never a pleasant experience. There were no profound sword techniques, no extraordinary moves like an immortal flying from beyond the heavens; Big Dummy just kept relentlessly hacking and stabbing with his sword.
“Block, block, block!”
Big Dummy only knew how to block, and his attacks were ineffective against a Grandmaster-level expert.
“Pfft!”
However, after blocking Big Dummy’s sword nearly a thousand times, a peak master on the opposing side could no longer hold on and spat out a mouthful of bright red blood. The blood that followed was not just from vomiting, but was erupting from his lungs. The continuous, intense battle had pushed his lungs past their limit, causing emphysema and hemorrhage.
He quickly retreated, but Big Dummy seized the opening, charged forward, and fiercely slashed him with his Heavy Iron Sword. In an instant, the peak master was split in two. In the extreme cold, the blood from his severed body froze before it could even flow out.