Chapter 11: A Mediocre Slash

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Do you really want to die that badly?”

Sun Zhengpin did not let his anger consume him immediately. Instead, he used his finger to wipe off the bloodstain on the tip of his sword. He looked at Zhou Heng, smiled faintly and said, “It’s very good and courageous of you to actually come up here.”

“After all, you cordially invited me. How can I be so mean as not to join you up here?” Zhou Heng smiled and said, “I can’t have you kneel down on the ring and beg me to come up, right?”

“How I wish I can rip out that mouth of yours with my sword.” Sun Zhengpin’s expression was dark and he snorted. “Make your move. I’ll give you the chance for one strike. Otherwise, you might not even get to lift that saber of yours up.”

At that moment, the surrounding people under the ring held their breath. They watched the two of them in the ring with rapt attention and estimated how many moves Zhou Heng could actually last.

No one thought that Zhou Heng could win this.

The strength that Sun Zhengpin had demonstrated just now was overbearing. Not even a ninth-class martial artist was a match for him, so how could an unranked apprentice like Zhou Heng win against him?!

Regardless of how talented he was, he would not stand a chance against actual strength.

What else was he supposed to do? Acquire the skills of Thirteen Autumn Rain Swords on the spot?

Obviously, that was impossible.

Wang Qingqing, who was sitting on the higher platform, smiled coquettishly as she fixed her gaze at Zhou Heng, as if scrutinizing him.

She suddenly turned to Minister Wang who was standing beside her and said, “This kid is very courageous indeed. If he really wins, Father, how about we increase his temporary guard’s salary to twenty taels of silver?”

“Huh?” Minister Wang froze at her words, then rapidly nodded. He smiled as he said, “Alright. Of course, that’s fine. A brave kid like him deserves more. Haha!”

Zhou Heng’s ears twitched when he overheard Wang Qingqing’s conversation. He felt happy and smiled widely.

Twenty taels of silver was no joke. It was double the original salary and almost equivalent to his annual income.

On the other hand, Sun Zhengpin was furious. He felt that Wang Qingqing was rooting for Zhou Heng by saying those words.

How could she be like that?

He was in a fit of rage, especially after noticing the triumphant smile on Zhou Heng’s face. He started boiling with anger.

“Make your move! Stop wasting time!” Sun Zhengpin gritted his teeth and stared at Zhou Heng.

“As you wish.” Zhou Heng smiled then took a step forward. He swung the steel saber in his palm. His strength was as powerful as a mighty man splitting mountains.

That slash caught the crowd under the ring by surprise.

That simple move was actually one of the most challenging feats for martial artists.

If one could not execute that slash with the conviction and strength of splitting mountains, it would only come off as mediocre and powerless. Anyone could easily counter it.

But now, Zhou Heng’s slash was indeed as powerful as the legendary Hercules wielding a divine saber and splitting the mountains set before him!

Despite being a distance away from him, the crowd standing under the ring and saw that slash felt an invisible powerful wind blowing toward them. They could not help but clap their hands and cheer.

Moreover, the speed of that slash was extremely fast!

As soon as Zhou Heng executed the slash of the saber, he had already come before Sun Zhengpin and was within striking reach!

That was a perfect ninth-class saber technique!

Although it was executed by an unranked martial artist, he had already demonstrated the demeanor of a ninth-class martial artist!

It also was for this reason that he was known as a pseudo ninth-class martial artist.

Against Zhou Heng’s extremely powerful and direct slash, Sun Zhengpin did not panic. He did not attempt to avoid that slash either.

He smirked and gave the sword in his hand a little twist from his wrist. The power from the sword instantly turned into a sword rain, as if dense raindrops were converging together.

Just then, an invisible cold air was instantly released, turning the weather in July into cold wind from the autumn.

It was Thirteen Autumn Rain Swords!

The sword technique which Sun Zhengpin had performed was much more powerful than when he attacked his brother just now!

Only this time, he did not push that dense sword rain forward with a thrust, like what he did just now. Instead, he kept the sword close to his front body, rushed toward Zhou Heng, and slashed at his saber!

He was actually going to clash hard against Zhou Heng’s saber.

The crowd immediately gasped again.

A majority of them were in disbelief.

Swords and sabers were weapons with completely different characteristics.

Moreover, sword techniques and saber techniques were different. Sword techniques were subtle and ever-changing. Saber technique focused more on strength and power to destroy skill.

As such, when using a sword against a saber, the swordsman would usually avoid head-on encounters and instead preferred to employ ingenious variations to outmaneuver the opponent’s saber techniques.

But Sun Zhengpin was actually attempting to meet Zhou Heng’s saber head-on with his sword now. Apparently, he was attacking the opponent’s strength with his weakest point.

Although the power of a ninth-class martial artist far surpassed an unranked martial artist, the characteristics of the sword would never change. If he insisted on using a sword against a saber-wielder, he would be at a heavy disadvantage.

No matter how you looked at it, it was not a wise move.

There was only one explanation for this.

Sun Zhengpin had the utmost confidence in himself. He had enough faith in his sword to defeat the saber-wielding Zhou Heng!

At the same time, he also intended to insult Zhou Heng.

Imagine a saber holder launching his powerful attack against his opponent, only to be crushed by a sword in a direct clash. Surely he would suffer a blow in his confidence. It might even lead to a stagnation in him improving in his martial arts in the future. It would lead to a lifetime ruin.

“Die! Yokel!”

Sun Zhengpin stared at Zhou Heng with a gloomy gaze. He thought darkly to himself, ‘I’m going to cut off the hamstrings of your hands and legs so that Ms. Wang will know how strong I am!

‘I’m the only one qualified to protect her. I’m the only one qualified to become her guard!’

It was as if he had already seen Zhou Heng’s steel saber being blown out of his hand, coming to rest on the ground in a state of dismay while its wielder stood dazed.

Clank!

The noise of the clash between metal was heard. Sun Zhengpin felt the longsword in his hand sink, and his sword had already clashed with Zhou Heng’s saber. He immediately circulated the surging power in his body to try forcing Zhou Heng back.

At that moment, the saber in Zhou Heng’s hand abruptly shifted to one side, defying conventional wisdom. It had sloped to his left, immediately negating the power Sun Zhengpin had exerted into his sword.

At the same time, the saber attack changed and transformed into a horizontal slash!

“You’re just struggling when you’re lost!”

Sun Zhengpin slightly moved his sword downward to parry Zhou Heng’s slash. Immediately after, he surged forward while having his sword graze the saber. Again, he thrust forward with the sword-light which shot out like autumn rain!

The sword-light was aimed at Zhou Heng’s chest!

That was Thirteen Autumn Rain Swords’ killing move. Each and every single one of the consecutive thirteen attacks executed in an instant must hit the same spot.

It was an attack against the spot where the enemy would definitely defend!

Then, he would take advantage of this, change his stance, and kill him in a single blow!

When Zhou Heng saw that style, he was happy. ‘I’m familiar with that stance!’

As such, he secretly drew from the sword theory of Broken Sword Style. He turned the tip of the saber in his hand and swung it in a gentle, relaxed arc. This time, that slash was without the power of a mighty man splitting mountains. Even the stance itself looked extremely simple.

When the crowd under the ring saw that scene, they thought that things were definitely going to go bad.

Had Zhou Heng been forced to exhaust all his stances and techniques? Was he unable to withstand the onslaught anymore?

Yu He widened his eyes and was worried sick about him.

Just then, on top of the roof of that teahouse loft at a distance away, the masked woman suddenly narrowed her eyes. Her gaze turned to the tip of the saber in Zhou Heng’s hand.

At that time, Sun Zhengpin’s sword had almost reached Zhou Heng’s chest. He was expecting Zhou Heng to avoid the blow and was already anticipating his defense. With that, he was prepared to change stances to go for the killing blow.

Suddenly, he felt his hand turning numb!

Dang!

His longsword was blown into the air and clanked on the floor.

Meanwhile, Zhou Heng’s saber was already at Sun Zhengpin’s wrist without him even noticing.

Sun Zhengpin was stunned and dumbfounded.

What happened?

How did the saber get there?

He did not even know about it!

The longsword glowed under the bright sunlight and gradually turned dimmer as it fell onto the ground, covered by dust that it kicked up. It looked like a dazzling meteor falling to its death in the eyes of the public.

That was too sudden.

The crowd was dumbfounded. They looked at one another at a loss.

What happened?

What happened actually?

Barely any of them had managed to follow whatever that just happened there.

They only knew that Zhou Heng had executed a slash out of the blue. It had looked like a normal, simple slash. Despite that, he had managed to knock the longsword out of Sun Zhengpin’s hand.

They already had a clear grasp of Sun Zhengpin’s personality, so they were certain that he was not putting on an act.

What was going on?

People once again looked at Zhou Heng in the ring. Their eyes were filled with amazement. How did that slash come about just now?

That was amazing!

How did a simple slash, a mediocre slash, or something they would not even consider a skill actually achieve such results?

He had actually defeated a ninth-class martial artist, Sun Zhengpin in a single blink without even giving him a chance to resist at all!

That was incredible!

As he blew away Sun Zhengpin’s longsword, Zhou Heng heard the long-awaited notification prompt.

“Congratulations! You’ve defeated a mediocre opponent, Sun Zhengpin, and you have been rewarded with three Bronze Lucky Bags.”

“Bronze Lucky Bag is a bag equipped with literally everything. Once you open it, you’ll gain a reward you will not expect!”