Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Enjoy Acting?
"Kid, you’re nothing special!"
Zhang Sheng was gradually gaining the upper hand. He wielded the steel saber in his hands with increasing ease, each swing fiercer than the last.
"How about you take a few swings from me!"
He raised his long saber high and brought it down abruptly.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Amid the sharp ringing, Wu Chen blocked four consecutive strikes.
The force, strong enough to shatter iron and stone, traveled up the hilt, numbing his arm and the web of his thumb. His Qi and Blood surged, and a metallic sweetness filled his throat.
Seeing the trace of blood at the corner of Wu Chen’s mouth, Zhang Sheng knew it would only take ten more strikes at most for him to be defeated.
He couldn’t help but sneer, "Kid, after all this time, is that all you’ve got? And you still dared to meddle in other people’s business?"
"Kneel and beg me to spare your life, then cripple one of your own arms. If you can make me happy, I might just let you live!"
"..."
Wu Chen remained silent, simply blocking the attacks with his saber held horizontally.
He seemed not to have heard Zhang Sheng’s irritating provocations. His expression remained calm, and his composure was unshaken.
But as he watched the powerful and dynamic saber technique in Zhang Sheng’s hands, his eyes grew solemn.
’Having a foundation in saber techniques really makes a difference. Our realms are about the same, but he can still consistently keep me suppressed.’
’But the stronger you are, doesn’t that just mean the better the loot you’ll drop?’
From their brief exchange, he had a rough idea that Zhang Sheng’s skills were comparable to his own. Whether it was Qi Power or Body Technique, they were more or less evenly matched.
Zhang Sheng’s only real advantage was his years of martial arts practice, giving him a few clumsy saber moves and more experience with the weapon.
That was the only reason he could leverage the advantage of his weapon and prevent Wu Chen from getting close.
’But...’
Facing the flash of the saber coming at him, Wu Chen didn’t block it head-on this time. He dodged to the side and casually wiped the streak of crimson from the corner of his mouth with his thumb.
’You were only about as strong as I was a moment ago.’
’But now...’
He glanced indifferently at his status panel. The fluctuating proficiency points had just settled.
Spiritual Snake Step, Great Success (300/300)
Body Tempering Realm Fifth Layer → Body Tempering Realm Sixth Layer
A familiar warm current surged through his body. His realm had once again ascended to a new level, and his Qi Power suddenly increased by a hundred jin.
The turbulent Qi and Blood, which had been roiling from taking seven or eight direct hits, also settled at this moment.
In short,
he was healed!
"What, out of strength?"
Seeing Wu Chen dodge instead of daring to block his next few strikes, Zhang Sheng, who held a firm advantage, was about to taunt him some more.
But when he saw Wu Chen’s eyes, still as calm as ever, an inexplicable tremor went through his heart.
It was as if, in that instant, he was facing a different person.
"Hmph, enough with the act! Take this!"
He struck out fiercely, his attack even more ferocious than before, trying to suppress the strange unease in his heart.
Facing Zhang Sheng’s swift assault, Wu Chen’s move was unchanged—a simple horizontal block to meet the blow.
In the blink of an eye, their figures crossed.
CLANG!
The two blades clashed without any frills, sending sparks flying with a screech of metal on metal.
This was a strike into which Zhang Sheng had poured all his strength, a blow meant to secure victory!
Besides, he had clearly seen the blood on Wu Chen’s lips just moments ago. It meant Wu Chen had barely any Qi Power left; he was a spent force.
Even if Wu Chen had some strength in reserve and this single blow couldn’t fell him, Zhang Sheng was confident that it would, at the very least, make the kid reconsider whether it was worth continuing to clash with him.
But when he felt the immense force transmitted through the hilt of his saber, Zhang Sheng’s eyes flew open wide, and he shrieked in disbelief:
"How is that possible!"
’His strength...’
The rebounding force that shot up his saber hilt instantly made half of Zhang Sheng’s body go numb, losing all feeling.
Not only that, but the powerful shockwave also sent him staggering back more than ten steps. He crushed countless dried weeds underfoot before he could barely stop himself.
Zhang Sheng’s right hand trembled uncontrollably, no longer able to grip his saber.
The webbing between his thumb and forefinger had been split open, revealing a wound so deep the bone was visible. Blood seeped out, dripping continuously from his fingertips.
It was a gruesome sight.
"How is that possible!"
"How is that possible!"
His eyes were vacant, unable to comprehend the situation.
He couldn’t understand how his opponent had suddenly manifested such immense strength out of thin air.
’If you were this powerful all along, then who was that whole difficult struggle for?’
’Who was that blood-spitting for?’
’Who was it for, taking my taunts without a word back?’
’You just like acting?’
’If you’d shown this kind of strength from the start, I would’ve run away ages ago!’
All of Zhang Sheng’s will to fight vanished, replaced by the single thought of escape.
The instant that thought formed, he slammed the tip of his foot on the ground, flicking the dropped steel saber back into his hand.
Leaping backward, he was about to dash into the depths of the tall grass and use it for cover to escape.
Naturally, Wu Chen wasn’t about to give him a chance to run. While Zhang Sheng was still reeling in shock, he had already used his Great Success Spiritual Snake Step to close the distance quietly.
They were now only four or five steps apart.
Although both of them had their Spiritual Snake Step at the Great Success level, Wu Chen’s forward advance was clearly faster than Zhang Sheng’s retreat, and his figure was far more elusive.
Wu Chen wasn’t used to using a saber, and he was worried about a repeat of the embarrassing scene where his blade got stuck between bones, so he simply sheathed it.
He skillfully dodged Zhang Sheng’s weak and powerless saber swing, then closed in like a cheetah, his right fist lashing out, wrapped in immense power.
He threw a punch with his Great Success Long-Armed Fist. It howled through the air as if it could tear the very wind.
Zhang Sheng felt a formidable power rush toward his face. He wanted to dodge, but it was already too late.
THWACK!
The fist smashed into his face with a dull thud.
The immense force caved in Zhang Sheng’s cheek. His body flew high into the air as a spray of blood and broken teeth erupted from his mouth. He rolled several times after landing and then lay still.
Still wary, Wu Chen delivered two more saber strikes. Only after confirming that the man was undeniably dead did he begin to search for spoils.
He had expected to find a Martial Arts manual for a saber technique on Zhang Sheng’s body.
But after searching both corpses, all Wu Chen found were three dry bran cakes as hard as clods of earth, a few small porcelain vials of medicinal powder, and two nearly empty waterskins.
Beyond that, there was nothing else. The Martial Arts manual he had been so eagerly hoping for was nowhere to be found.
This couldn’t help but disappoint Wu Chen a little.
After cleaning up the battlefield, Wu Chen finally walked over to Liu Wei, who was slumped on the ground. He waved a hand in front of the dazed girl’s eyes.
Seeing her blank expression, he pondered for a moment, gathered his thoughts, and then said gently:
"Hello?"
"..."
At his gentle words, Liu Wei gradually came back to her senses, her unfocused gaze slowly sharpening.
Seeing the unfamiliar face before her, she panicked and instinctively tried to flee.
But as she got up, her gaze swept over the corpses of Zhang Sheng and Zhao Shi lying ten feet away, and she finally understood.
’It seems... I’ve been saved!’
And the one who had saved her was the young man standing before her.
"Thank you, sir..."
"Save your thanks. Your father’s still waiting for you."
Seeing that she wasn’t seriously hurt, Wu Chen waved for her to follow and turned to walk out of the grassy field.
...
RUSTLE! RUSTLE!
RUSTLE! RUSTLE!
Not long after the two had left, one behind the other, the leaves of the man-high weeds deep in the field began to sway, the withered yellow plants trembling at a rapid frequency.
Something was running, using the vegetation as cover.
Then,
several figures, walking on all fours and reeking of a foul stench, emerged from the shadows of the plants.
The sunlight revealed their true forms.
They had sharp, jagged teeth, inverted, slender eyes, and were draped in tattered rags.
They were monsters of some unknown kind.
They had been lying dormant deep within the grassy field, awakened by the sounds of Wu Chen’s fight, and had then been drawn here by the thick scent of blood.
The green pupils in the monsters’ inverted, triangular eyes darted left and right, searching the surroundings for any hidden dangers.
After pinpointing the source of the bloody scent and confirming there were no hidden threats nearby, the monsters let out excited, low growls:
"GRR..."
"GRR..."
Following the cheerful sounds, the monsters swarmed toward the corpses of Zhang Sheng and Zhao Shi. They hunched over, buried their heads in the corpses’ chests, and began to feast greedily.
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