Chapter 247: Chapter 178: The Sun Still Rises
「Elsewhere.」
WHOOSH! WHOOSH, WHOOSH!
With Chai Bao’s cooperation, Chen Ku had already taken down eighteen Divine Force Crossbow targets in less than half the time it took an incense stick to burn. After relaying the positions of the last two Divine Force Crossbows to Chai Bao, he said, "Instructor Chai, the last two are yours. I’m going to check on Master’s situation!"
"Wait, Chen Ku..."
Chai Bao started to speak but stopped when he saw Chen Ku leap away. He sighed involuntarily.
He actually wanted Chen Ku to stay and take over the battle on North Street. With the strength Chen Ku had displayed tonight, getting involved and eliminating the remaining members of the Firewood Iron Shop would be as easy as slicing melons and cutting vegetables, and far less dangerous.
On the other hand, regarding Elder Yang and Xie Qingfeng, although Elder Yang’s strength was undoubtedly superior and he would certainly have the upper hand, Xie Qingfeng was, after all, the city’s undisputed fourth-ranked expert. Even if he wasn’t Elder Yang’s match, if he were desperate to flee, it was still possible he could escape. If Chen Ku went, there was no telling if Xie Qingfeng, in a fit of desperation, might decide to drag Chen Ku down with him to perish together. That would be a terrible outcome.
But since Chen Ku had already gone, Chai Bao could only trust that Elder Yang was strong enough to protect his disciple.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Chen Ku sprinted across the rooftops. With the speed of a Swallow-Treading Horse, he moved like lightning even without employing specific movement techniques. Simultaneously, he observed the chaotic melee below, where the men of the two families were fiercely entangled.
Holding the principle that ’even a fly is meat,’ he continuously drew his bow, picking off Firewood Iron Shop experts who appeared to be at least at the Second or Third Realm.
[Diagram Master kills Chang Luo...]
[Diagram Master kills Wen San...]
...
Tonight, the notifications from the Transformation Diagram—alerts of malice directed at him and of Evil Qi gained from slaying enemies—hadn’t stopped, one intermingling with the other.
Chen Ku was in no mood to meticulously count them at that moment. However, he could well imagine that after tonight’s battle, he would harvest an unprecedented amount of high-quality Evil Qi from top-tier human experts, all of them core elites from the Firewood Iron Shop. Among them, there might even be blacksmiths skilled in the Firewood Iron Shop’s secret Weapon Forging Technique.
But, compared to the Evil Qi these individuals offered, Chen Ku most coveted the Evil Qi from Xie Qingfeng. This fourth-ranked expert in the city, an outstanding talent merely twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, was the most alluring to Chen Ku—be it his qualifications, his strength, or the secret techniques of the Firewood Iron Shop he possessed.
「...」
BOOM!
The flagstones trembled violently!
After Yang Luochen closed in, he smashed his staff towards Xie Qingfeng. Although Xie Qingfeng reacted with the utmost speed possible, instantly drawing the Firewood Iron Shop’s most formidable Famous Weapon, the ’Qing Kang Sword,’ to block, he was still sent flying by the raw power of a Fifth Realm Martial Artist and Yang Luochen’s world-surpassing Qi Power. Hurled thirty zhang—nearly a hundred meters—away, he crashed at the far end of the alley, causing the flagstones there to buckle as if an earth dragon had turned over, sending stone fragments flying!
COUGH!
Xie Qingfeng knelt in a deep crater among the shattered flagstones, supporting himself with his sword. His hair disheveled, he slowly rose, leaning on his sword. His eyes fixed on the tall, elderly figure on the rooftop, he stated expressionlessly, "Yang Luochen, Five Internal Strong, Furious Ape Mighty Staff. Is that all there is to you?"
"Eh... You’ve also cultivated your ’Iron Cloth Shirt’ to Perfection? No, that’s not right..." Yang Luochen mused aloud.
He watched Xie Qingfeng get back up so quickly after taking that blow. While the famous Qing Kang Sword in Xie Qingfeng’s hand had undoubtedly deflected a good deal of the force, his sturdy physique was the primary reason. This immediately made Yang Luochen wonder if the Xie Family’s Thirteenth Young Master, like his old father, had also cultivated the Iron Cloth Shirt to the Perfection Realm, where it would have no Protection Gate and could even rebound Qi Power. However, he hadn’t felt any such rebound Qi Power from an Iron Cloth Shirt at the Perfection Realm just now. If that was the case, then there was only one other explanation.
Yang Luochen had basically deduced the reason. "Heh, you tough-mouthed little brat. You’re wearing Famous Artifact-level Inner Armor, aren’t you?"
He leaped down to the street. Looking at Xie Qingfeng, who stood ready with his sword, Yang Luochen grinned and said, "Think wearing a turtle shell will let you take this old man’s staff?"
With that, he exhaled like thunder, "Come! Take this old man’s strike!"
Instantly, Yang Luochen’s figure on the street swelled, growing to a height of one zhang, like a minor giant. Wielding his Water-Fire Dragon Head Staff, which weighed 12,000 jin, he stomped his foot, shaking the entire street, and then unleashed the most classic move of the Furious Ape Mighty Staff!
Skyward Strike!
The blow was delivered without a sound, perfectly embodying the peak state of effortless mastery and Perfection.
"I shall experience it!"
Almost at the exact moment Yang Luochen delivered his strike, Xie Qingfeng, sword in hand, also made his move. With a step, his figure moved like an azure Jiao Long, leaving several afterimages along the street!
Sun Change Nine Swords!
The Firewood Iron Shop possessed four Ultimate Skills: Iron Cloth Shirt, Mountain-moving Cloak Hammer, Weapon Refining Technique, and Sun Change Nine Swords!
Many in the Firewood Iron Shop practiced the Iron Cloth Shirt and the Mountain-moving Cloak Hammer because these arts had no high cultivation threshold; with perseverance, average qualifications, and enough time, one could achieve proficiency.
The Weapon Refining Technique, however, was the true foundation of the Firewood Iron Shop. This art, much like the Medicine King Hall’s Pill Prescriptions, was not a martial art but the very basis of a clan’s standing. Though not a martial art, it was prized even more highly.