Chapter 716: Only One Road Up Mount Hua

Over the last several years, Marquis Zheng had grown used to scenes involving thousands upon thousands of troops.

Assassinations like this... he had long since become rusty at.

People often said that water had no fixed shape and troops had no fixed formation.

Everything on a battlefield changed from one instant to the next.

But in truth... on a battlefield, you at least had your own army beneath you as a foundation.

No matter how quickly the situation changed, every variation still unfolded atop that base.

An assassination was different.

Like now.

Like this exact moment.

Marquis Zheng genuinely had never imagined that one shout from him... would directly summon a "Sword Saint."

It was almost as though fate had decided Marquis Pingxi's experience commanding armies was still insufficient... and wanted to give him one small surprise.

Li Liangshen had come.

Just as a true master chef could make even an ordinary home-cooked dish more delicate, a genuine expert naturally had far greater control over concealing his aura.

So... the Sword Saint had failed to detect Li Liangshen inside the carriage in advance.

And Li Liangshen had likewise failed to detect the Sword Saint standing farther down the street behind a storefront sign.

Because of that...

Marquis Zheng's one shout... made Li Liangshen immediately assume the Sword Saint stood atop that rooftop.

So... he came.

Everyone knew the Sword Saint of Jin had long since entered Marquis Pingxi's service.

If Marquis Pingxi wanted to assassinate someone... naturally, he would bring the Sword Saint.

Li Liangshen believed that if he tied down one Sword Saint... that would be enough.

If time could have frozen... if both sides could have stepped out of the scene and recorded a voice-over...

Marquis Zheng would definitely have cursed Li Liangshen to his face.

You're a damned Garrison Commander!

Have you never heard of making a sound in the east and striking in the west?

I shout that I'm drawing a sword, and you immediately assume the Sword Saint is standing beside me?

Useless.

Mediocre general.

No wonder you never get any battles to fight!

Unfortunately... everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Li Liangshen... was already here.

In this kind of local clash, the result was often decided within only a few breaths.

Which meant... for the moment, no support could arrive from outside.

Fortunately... the Demon Kings reacted extremely quickly.

Siniang stepped forward.

Both hands opened.

Thread after thread and silver needle after silver needle pressed toward the flying Li Liangshen like a rain of flowers.

Unfortunately... the ancient, heavy sword qi contained within Li Liangshen's greatsword had already reached the level where overwhelming force could break through exquisite technique.

No matter how dense Siniang's threads became... no matter how penetrating the silver needles were... at this moment, none of them mattered.

Buzz!

In an instant... the threads snapped.

The silver needles shattered.

The sword edge... came straight down toward Siniang.

And behind Siniang... stood Zheng Fan.

Clashes often occurred within a single instant.

Especially against swordsmen.

They were faster still.

Life and death could be decided in a blink.

Zheng Fan looked at Siniang's back.

His eyes tightened.

Suddenly...

Siniang's aura surged upward.

Even Li Liangshen, who had raised his sword and was driving forward, frowned slightly.

In the next instant...

Siniang narrowed her phoenix eyes.

Her ten fingers trembled faintly.

Behind Li Liangshen... three silver needles appeared.

They were formed from condensed water vapor.

From the perspective of a Qi Refiner, this was condensing qi into physical form.

From the perspective of a Western mage... it was water magic.

Either way... three needles appeared behind Li Liangshen.

And every strand of Li Liangshen's sword qi... was concentrated in front of him.

Siniang did not dodge.

She devoted everything to controlling those three needles.

The determination in her was obvious.

Fine.

Cleave me to death if you want.

But I will still drive these three needles into the acupoints inside your body.

At its core... this was simply a contest of ruthlessness.

A fight to the death.

Only one road led up Mount Hua.

I am walking forward.

You... do as you please.

How could the heart of a Demon King ever be weak?

Siniang's battle experience told her clearly: she absolutely could not retreat now.

In truth... the thought itself lasted only an instant.

And for Li Liangshen... there was almost nothing to hesitate over.

If the man before him were the Sword Saint of Jin, and he could kill that man by accepting an injury himself... that would be an excellent trade.

He would continue driving this sword forward.

Unfortunately... the person before him was not the Sword Saint.

Which meant... the Sword Saint was somewhere else.

And right now, uninjured and still at his peak, Li Liangshen did not possess full confidence against the Sword Saint he was about to face.

At best... slightly less than fifty percent.

Because commanding troops over the last several years had consumed too much of his time and energy.

His path of the sword... had stagnated for years.

He did not believe Yu Huaping had been equally idle.

Because of that, the two men who had once fought to a draw already understood perfectly well where they now stood relative to one another.

Li Liangshen withdrew his sword.

Not completely.

Only halfway.

His greatsword was heavy enough to slap a man to death.

So although the sword itself pulled back... the force of the released sword qi still swept forward.

The instant Siniang sensed him retract the blade, she abandoned the three long needles condensed behind him.

Her body retreated.

While dodging, she forcibly stretched seven barriers of thread in front of herself.

The outpouring sword qi shattered all seven barriers in the next instant.

Then struck Siniang.

Blood began seeping from her left arm.

Her shoulder trembled faintly.

But she had endured the attack.

Thanks entirely to the Grade she had just advanced.

A'Ming, who had been protecting Zheng Fan's side the entire time, licked his lips and stepped forward naturally.

Siniang understood at once.

She began retreating.

Then crouched in front of Zheng Fan.

They were rotating forward.

Giving the previous person time to breathe and adjust.

At the same time... you finished advancing.

Now it was my turn.

Li Liangshen pulled his sword back and stood where he was.

He did not begin a second round of attacks.

Not because he wanted to exchange greetings and commit some battlefield taboo.

But because the Sword Saint, who had reacted one beat slower earlier... had now appeared.

Originally... the Sword Saint's first sword should have gone directly toward the carriage carrying Zhao Jiulang.

Who could have expected Li Liangshen to be sitting inside it... and then come charging straight onto the rooftop?

The carriage... or Li Liangshen.

That was an extremely easy choice.

Because the Sword Saint understood one thing very clearly.

In Marquis Pingxi's eyes...

Marquis Pingxi's own life was certainly more important.

So...

Longyuan gave a long cry.

From below to above... it surged toward Li Liangshen!

Li Liangshen had only enough time to glance from the corner of his eye toward Siniang.

Gaining insight and advancing during a fight was nothing especially rare.

But advancing at the exact instant between life and death... and using that breakthrough to escape being killed... that was something he had never even heard of.

Because Li Liangshen was an expert himself... he understood even more clearly how astonishing Siniang's transformation had been.

She had only just advanced... and could already use the power of that higher realm to counter him?

Had she truly advanced just now?

Or had she deliberately sealed her realm beforehand?

But after his sword had forced her into such a desperate position... would anyone truly wait until that exact moment before deliberately unsealing it?

The doubts lasted only an instant.

Not because Li Liangshen did not want to think further.

But because Longyuan... had already arrived before him.

Facing the Sword Saint...

Li Liangshen did not dare be careless.

Because he understood his own strength... he understood even better why the man opposite him deserved respect.

The greatsword stood upright before him.

His left hand gripped the hilt.

His right palm struck the body of the blade.

In an instant... the greatsword rose.

His entire body moved with the sword.

Together they became an exceptionally fierce and powerful wave of sword qi.

That sword qi was not especially sharp.

But it was absolutely heavy, dense, and blazing with force.

The Zhenbei cavalry used sabers from horseback.

Li Liangshen was a swordsman.

Yet when he wielded this enormous sword... it carried the spirit of a saber.

The Sword Saint did not choose to meet force with force at the beginning.

Even though... as a swordsman... that should have been one of his greatest strengths.

Instead, Longyuan moved like a nimble fire-serpent.

With absolute precision, it began dissecting the sword aura surrounding Li Liangshen one strand at a time.

This forced Li Liangshen to fix himself in place... and accompany the Sword Saint in this push-and-pull exchange, one side rising as the other fell.

At the same time... the Sword Saint used the opportunity to create space.

A'Ming and Siniang immediately understood his intention.

Naturally, Marquis Zheng understood too.

Only a little slower than the two Demon Kings.

Siniang seized Zheng Fan's arm and jumped from the rooftop with him.

A'Ming stayed behind to cover their retreat.

Unexpectedly...

Li Liangshen deliberately separated one strand of sword intent at this exact moment.

It condensed in his palm.

Then he slapped it into the greatsword.

Between the hilt and body of the blade was one smoothly rounded groove.

At this moment... a black sword radiance burst from that groove.

It shot directly toward the place where Zheng Fan and Siniang were descending.

A'Ming, covering their rear... did not panic.

He was delighted.

He leapt after them.

If the scene could have been frozen and slowed down... then one would see Siniang pulling Zheng Fan through the air.

Sword light hurtling after them.

And at the instant before impact...

A'Ming's body appeared.

Using himself... to block it.

Then...

A'Ming's body began spinning violently through the air.

The clothes covering him were torn apart in several places.

The whole image... was remarkably artistic.

At last...

Siniang and Zheng Fan reached the ground.

Thud!

A'Ming crashed down as well.

His hair had come loose.

His formal clothing was in tatters.

Marquis Zheng's gaze immediately fell on him.

In truth...

A'Ming's injuries were nowhere near as serious as they appeared.

Li Liangshen was currently dueling the Sword Saint.

How much focus could he possibly spare for attacking someone else?

But most of Marquis Zheng's combat experience came from battlefields.

Li Liangshen's sudden appearance earlier really had struck through his psychological defenses.

Or perhaps... it was simply instinctive concern.

Either way... there was no time to analyze or calculate.

The first thing that surged forth was the purest concern.

Along with the emotion of having been protected.

"Hoo..."

In the next instant...

A'Ming's aura changed abruptly as well.

His face, which had already been pale from injury and which he had deliberately made look even paler, uncontrollably flushed with a trace of red.

Then came... a sensation of pure exhilaration.

Not only because his strength had recovered another step.

But because that damned difficult barrier... had somehow been crossed just like this.

In the past... merely figuring out how to flatter Master and testing method after method had been enough to make a man lose his hair.

On the rooftop opposite...

Xue San and Fan Li both stared wide-eyed.

"Li, I'm so jealous," Xue San said.

"Me too."

"Li, you go first.

"Let's hope there's another expert under the carriage."

"Got it!"

The next instant...

Fan Li lifted an enormous round timber.

Then jumped from the rooftop.

Man and log together... crashed down toward the carriage.

Xue San... slid from the rooftop.

And vanished directly into the darkness.

"Protect the Chancellor!"

"Protect the Chancellor!"

...

On the rooftop... the Sword Saint smiled.

"Not bad.

"Facing me and still daring to divide your attention."

Longyuan withdrew.

But it did not return to his hand.

Halfway back... the sword abruptly flipped.

Sword qi burst outward once again.

It tore through the rooftop beneath them... and vanished below.

The next instant...

Li Liangshen leapt into the air.

His greatsword pressed downward.

Longyuan burst upward from below him.

And collided with the greatsword.

After the strike...

Longyuan withdrew once more.

This time... it hovered beside the Sword Saint.

That marked the end of their first exchange.

Li Liangshen landed again.

The greatsword stood before him.

"Dragonfly Skims the Water?"

Li Liangshen asked.

Years earlier... the two had fought once.

And for a very long time... neither had been able to determine a victor.

Li Liangshen continued:

"Fine.

"I can sit here with you.

"Trading myself for you is already enough."

The Sword Saint shook his head.

"No.

"Earlier, I simply wanted to see how much your swordsmanship had improved over these years."

"And?"

"It has gained a certain gloomy air of decline.

"The face is born from the heart.

"The sword rises from the heart.

"Looks like these past several years... you have not lived happily."

Once one of the Four Great Swordsmen.

Garrison Commander of the Zhenbei Army.

Yet over so many great wars in recent years... he had failed to catch even one.

How could he not be depressed?

That was exactly why he urgently wanted a frontier posting.

Otherwise... his heart... and his sword... would both rust.

"And you?" Li Liangshen asked.

"Me?"

The Sword Saint smiled.

"I have a small courtyard.

"A wife.

"A son.

"And another child still in my wife's belly.

"The courtyard is lively.

"We raise a flock of chickens.

"Oh, right.

"And one duck."

"Where is the courtyard?" Li Liangshen asked. "Someday I'll visit."

"Easy to find."

"Oh?"

"Next door to Marquis Pingxi Residence."

"Heh."

Li Liangshen sighed.

"That does sound like a free and easy life."

"Mm.

"I think my current life is actually quite good."

"So?"

Li Liangshen glanced downward.

"Do we stay here... or fight?"

"We should still fight.

"I promised him today that I would kill the Chancellor."

Li Liangshen nodded.

He patted the greatsword.

"With me here... you will not be able to act."

"I do not understand commanding troops.

"In that area, I certainly cannot compare with you.

"But when it comes to the sword... the current you... has already fallen behind me."

"Oh?

"How far behind?

"One step?

"Half a step?"

"Half a step."

"Only half a step."

The Sword Saint pointed upward.

"Half a step... above your head."

"Yu Huaping.

"At the roast-duck restaurant last time, I truly did not realize your tone had become this damned arrogant."

Yu Huaping pointed downward.

"Back then, that man below was nothing in your eyes either.

"What about now?

"At the roast-duck restaurant...

"I watched you kneel and salute him."

Li Liangshen's fingertips lightly rubbed the hilt of his greatsword.

The Sword Saint continued:

"Nothing in this world remains unchanged forever.

"People change.

"Scenery changes.

"Swords... change too."

Li Liangshen asked:

"You intend to kill me?"

"If you block me...

"I will kill you."

"Yu Huaping.

"I admit it.

"No.

"Actually, after our battle years ago, I already told you:

"Today we fought to a draw.

"Two years from then...

"I would no longer be your match."

"I remember.

"You added something afterward.

"You said you command fifty thousand iron cavalry.

"Even if my sword surpassed yours by one measure in the future... what is one measure of swordsmanship beside fifty thousand cavalry?"

"Yes."

"Then I want to ask you too.

"Where are your fifty thousand cavalry now?

"Can you summon them into this street?"

Li Liangshen said nothing.

"I am going to kill him."

The Sword Saint pointed toward the Chancellor's carriage below.

"All this just to help that Zheng?"

"Not only that."

"What else?"

"For the woman who entrusted a child into my hands years ago."

"Ridiculous."

"Ridiculous?"

"Absurd, even."

"And also..."

"What?"

"To repay one favor."

"A favor?"

Buzz!

Longyuan entered his hand.

Sword qi from every direction... began gathering.

Li Liangshen growled:

"Yu Huaping.

"You may be able to defeat me.

"That does not mean you can kill me.

"Even if you can kill me... that does not mean you can do it quickly.

"Believe me or not...

"I can fight you until dawn."

"Yes."

Yu Huaping nodded.

Li Liangshen suddenly understood.

He immediately said:

"You intend to strike directly at the Chancellor.

"Then I will do exactly what I did earlier and strike at Marquis Pingxi."

"Fine."

Yu Huaping nodded again.

Then... he looked at Li Liangshen.

Looked at the greatsword in his hands.

"Years ago, I told you.

"Your sword... is too heavy.

"And too clumsy."

"Heavy or clumsy... it still isn't slow.

"What?

"Want to test it?"

"Then let's test it."

The Sword Saint gripped Longyuan.

And flew forward.

Li Liangshen shouldered his greatsword.

And leapt as well.

In the next instant... the Sword Saint, sword in hand, flew toward the Chancellor's carriage.

Li Liangshen, man and sword together, smashed toward Zheng Fan and the others standing on the street below.

At the same time...

Li Liangshen shouted:

"Yu Huaping!

"I refuse to believe you can watch me kill him!"

"My sword... is faster than yours."

The two men, both numbered among the Four Great Swordsmen of the age, crossed paths in the air.

Each flew toward his chosen target.

But in the next breath... a vast and overwhelming sword intent poured from Longyuan.

Li Liangshen could not help turning his head.

That sword intent... had already exceeded the level of Third Grade!

The Sword Saint gave a long cry:

"Tian Wujing!

"Back then in Fengxin City, through your son, you lent me your intent and opened the gate to Second Grade!

"Today...

"I, Yu Huaping... will use a Second Grade sword to avenge your dead wife!

"This repays that favor!"

The Sword Saint's sword... truly was faster.

At least at this moment... far, far faster... than Li Liangshen's greatsword.

A Second Grade sword... carrying the might of Heaven and Earth... came crashing down!

In an instant... atop the Golden Hall within the imperial palace...

Eunuch Wei put away his relaxed expression as he watched the excitement.

His gaze turned solemn.

Inside another hall, the Little Eunuch in Red Robes sat before a pill furnace.

His fingers formed seals before his chest.

Then he slowly exhaled.

Across Yanjing... every expert above Fifth Grade abruptly awakened and raised his head.

And on this street... the old carriage driver, surprising and yet entirely unsurprising... had just shattered the round timber Fan Li dropped with one palm... then smashed Fan Li flying with a single punch.

Immediately... he jerked his head upward.

"Chancellor!

"Run!"

The old driver shot into the air.

He intended to stop that sword.

In the next instant... his entire body was cut apart by that terrifying sword qi.

A line of blood appeared from the center of his forehead.

Then his body split open.

Even as the blood mist erupted... the overwhelming sword qi evaporated it directly.

The sword... did not slow in the slightest.

It stabbed into the carriage.

BOOM!

The three horses pulling the carriage... and the carriage itself... exploded instantly.

Fragments of corpses flew in every direction along with pieces of vermilion-and-purple official robes.

The street... fell dead silent.

Li Liangshen's sword had only moved halfway.

Then it stopped.

He landed.

And stood there.

Siniang and A'Ming blocked Zheng Fan's front.

Both watched Li Liangshen warily.

The remaining guards from the Chancellor's residence also stopped fighting Xu Chuang and Fan Li.

They stared at the shattered carriage... tears gathering in their eyes.

The Sword Saint held Longyuan.

After splitting the carriage apart with one sword... he unexpectedly threw Longyuan again.

This time... it turned toward Li Liangshen.

In truth, once Li Liangshen saw the carriage destroyed, he had already pulled back his own technique.

Even his fighting spirit had dispersed considerably.

He forced Longyuan away with one sword.

Then retreated some distance.

The Sword Saint used the opportunity to land in front of Siniang and A'Ming.

Li Liangshen looked at the Sword Saint.

His expression was somewhat helpless.

"Yu Huaping.

"You've gotten me killed."

At that moment...

Marquis Zheng, safely protected behind the others, suddenly felt capable again.

He shouted:

"Li Liangshen!

"You should make your expression a little deeper."

Li Liangshen turned toward Zheng Fan, who was protected behind the others.

Even though the man wore black clothes and a face covering... everyone could still tell exactly who he was.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...

"I know that was a golden-cicada-shell trick.

"The assassin under me who's best at tracking and killing targets already slipped around the back long ago to find the real man."

"What did you say?!"

"Yes.

"That expression and tone are much better.

"The last one was far too fake."

Just then... from somewhere not far away... came Xue San's voice.

"Master!

"I caught him!

"I caught him!"

"Excellent!" Zheng Fan shouted.

They waited.

For a moment... perhaps the reaction Xue San had hoped for did not arrive.

So his voice came again from the darkness.

"Not good, Master!

"The Chancellor is actually a hidden Second Grade expert!

"Ah!

"Ahhh!

"I'm going to die!"

[End of Chapter 716]