Martial Cultivator

After thinking for a moment, Chen Chao said, ”Even now, if this official does not wish to fight you, what can you do about it?”

The thin young man hugged the horizontal saber and looked at Chen Chao with curious surprise, ”Then I’ll kill you. You’re not telling me you won’t fight back, are you?”

Chen Chao laughed despite himself and then looked toward the two daoists, ”So, the two Daoist Sages have decided you are not in a hurry to take action?”

The daoist in the green robe said calmly, ”Since he wishes to fight Lord Warden Commander, it does no harm for us to wait a while. In any case, Lord Warden Commander is here. He isn’t going anywhere. If Lord Warden Commander is unlucky, this penniless daoist won’t need to shoulder the crime of killing the Lord Warden Commander.”

Chen Chao raised his hand and applauded with a smile. ”Good, good. As expected of a Sage. Those words were truly sincere. Even this official cannot find anything to refute.”

The thin young man cast a disdainful glance at the two daoists. ”If they weren’t determined to kill you, I definitely wouldn’t have come at a time like this. But since they insist on killing you, if I don’t fight you now, there won’t be another chance in the future.”

Chen Chao shook his head and smiled. ”No matter. If I really have to die, dying at your hands is still better than dying at the hands of those guys.”

After a moment of silence, Chen Chao looked at the young man. ”I was going to ask your name, but since you’ve come to kill this official, it’s probably better not to ask, lest the imperial court trace things back to you afterward.”

The thin young man sneered. ”Lord Warden Commander, at a time like this, what’s the point of all these scheming to say these words? I may not have any enmity against you, but I don’t like you one bit. You’ve heard the saying, haven’t you? In the arts there is no first place, but in martial arts there is no second place. If you don’t die, how are the rest of us supposed to make a name for ourselves?”

Chen Chao responded with a simple ”Oh,” and said nothing more.

Then Chen Chao simply beckoned to the thin young man.

The latter drew the horizontal saber he had been holding in his arms, but he did not see Chen Chao brandish his saber.

”Where is that Cloud Mud of yours? I heard it is the only saber forged by Sword Qi Mountain in all these years. The hilt turns white when stained with blood and returns to black once the blood disperses. After you die, I want that saber.”

The thin young man narrowed his eyes. As someone who also loved sabers, he was naturally very interested in the saber rumored to be the sharpest in the world.

Chen Chao smiled. ”If you can truly kill this official, that saber will naturally be yours. But right now, it seems you aren’t qualified to see it.”

The thin young man was not angered. Instead, he took the initiative to say, ”Remember this, Lord Warden Commander. My name is Huang Kong. After today, there should be a place for me in the martial path of this world.”

He was not afraid of people learning his name. He had already prepared himself to walk the martial path all the way to its end.

While Huang Kong was speaking, Chen Chao had already jumped down from the table. He then reached into the corpse and forcefully pulled out the butcher’s knife.

After glancing at the blade, the young martial artist frowned slightly and swiped his hand across it.

The rolled edge of the blade was smoothed flat, and the butcher’s knife became a sharp butcher’s knife once more.

Chen Chao casually spun the knife in his hand and looked quite satisfied.

But Huang Kong’s expression darkened. Staring at the undisputed number one martial artist of the current age before him, he demanded, ”You’re really planning to fight me with nothing but a butcher’s knife?”

Chen Chao narrowed his eyes. He knew what Huang Kong meant, but merely said casually, ”It’s quite good. It’s enough.”

At this moment, Huang Kong’s eyes were already filled with killing intent. If he had previously held some respect for Chen Chao, then from this moment onward, none remained.

Now he only wanted to cut the young martial artist before him into pieces.

Chen Chao noticed the change in his emotions, but said nothing.

He just gripped the butcher’s knife and glanced at the two daoists over there.

At this moment, Huang Kong had already begun charging forward along the street. The instant this thin young martial artist started forward, his aura began rising without end, as though a primordial ferocious beast had completely broken free of the restraints of its body in an instant and descended upon the mortal world.

In the span of a moment, winds surged and clouds churned above the long street.

Terrifying air billows swept against the buildings on both sides and battered the young man standing in the middle of the street.

Huang Kong’s figure continued moving forward, and each step forward left behind a dense mass of qi.

As he advanced, those dense streams of qi gathered back onto his body, and thus a remarkable sight quickly appeared upon the long street.

It was a majestic stream of flowing light, resembling the river of sword qi of a sword cultivator. Except, the trajectory of the qi within it was certainly inferior to that of a sword cultivator.

Chen Chao quietly looked at that streak of flowing light. With his eyesight, he could naturally see the difference in Huang Kong’s qi flow; no wonder he possessed such surging blood vitality.

That was what set Huang Kong apart from ordinary martial artists.

But that was all.

Chen Chao gripped that butcher’s knife and met the charging Huang Kong head-on.

Huang Kong held that horizontal saber and brought it down in a single slash from midair. The blade tore apart the surrounding aura, carrying an extremely terrifying force as it descended all the way down.

Until it met that butcher’s knife.

Chen Chao raised the butcher’s knife and blocked Huang Kong’s strike.

A soft, crisp sound rang out. The two blades collided; neither broke, only that sound echoed once.

Chen Chao looked at the young man in front of him, who was determined to pull him down so he could stand unrivaled in the martial path, and simply shook his head, saying with a hint of regret, “Too slow.”

......

......

The Lu Family caravan had left Dragon Horn Commandery, and after traveling roughly ten li, Lu Qingling, who grew increasingly uneasy the more she thought about it, rode over to Elder Brother Zhao’s side and asked directly, “Elder Brother Zhao, did that young man ever tell you his identity?”

Old Zhao did not expect the employer to suddenly ask such a question, but he quickly shook his head and said, “I do not know his identity, but he has taught me several fist techniques. I have always... felt that he must come from an extraordinary background, at least with quite deep attainment in the martial path. In fact, I even suspect those fist techniques were created by him himself!”

Lu Qingling frowned, her expression somewhat unnatural.

“Employer, what happened?”

If it were someone else, Old Zhao likely would not have cared much, but this involved Chen Chao, so he paid attention; that bit of kindness, he remembered clearly and would not forget.

Lu Qingling frowned and said, “I finally remembered. No wonder he felt so familiar. I had once seen his portrait before, but now that his injuries are too severe and he looks sickly, I failed to recognize him at first!”

Old Zhao was completely confused.

Lu Qingling said directly, “That young man, the one who taught you fist techniques, is none other than our young Lord Warden Commander.”

Old Zhao was struck like thunder, frozen completely on horseback.

That sickly fellow was the Great Liang Dynasty’s Lord Warden Commander?

He had personally imparted him fist techniques?

One thing after another left Old Zhao completely speechless.

Too shocking.

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