Chapter 368: Sword within the Sword
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Ever since he had met with Wu Yuer, Fang Zhengzhi had learnt from her that Yun Qingwu had another identity.
The Young Demon Lord!
Even though Fang Zhengzhi was somewhat taken aback when he heard of this identity of Yun Qingwu, he knew that Wu Yuer had no reason to lie to him.
Hence, in his heart, he inferred very easily that the incidents of the Southern Mountain Range were naturally related in some way or another to this woman Yun Qingwu, especially the part about having ties with the demon race.
The four scholars in front of him were evidently of the demon race.
Fang Zhengzhi didn't need to remove the skin masks on their faces on purpose. Because, when Fang Zhengzhi had defeated Nangong Hao's formation, one of the scholars had already launched an attack on Chen Feiyu.
What was Chen Feiyu's status?
The younger brother of Imperial Concubine Hua Fei, the young brother-in-law of the Emperor, the direct line of descent of the thirteen constabularies.
Fang Zhengzhi knew that. Hence, it was impossible for the other scholars not to know this. Hence, would anybody launch a sneak attack on somebody like Chen Feiyu?
There was.
For example, Fang Zhengzhi used a sneak attack against Chen Feiyu.
However, that was in order to take down the Thunderous Lion Settlement. And now, Chen Feiyu had already been eliminated and lost all the value he had. At such a time, launching another sneak attack on Chen Feiyu…
There could only be one reason.
That was that the other party was of the demon race!
Fang Zhengzhi inferred this point. However, he didn't infer the true strength of the other party. He initially felt that everything was within his control. However, in reality, he seemed to have been controlled by someone else all along.
That didn't feel very good.
However, he was still extremely helpless.
When faced with four Supernatural State demons employing the technique of combining four swords, causing their power to reach that of the Rebirth State, what Fang Zhengzhi needed to do was too simple.
That was one word…
Run!
However, in reality, with a bunch of people standing behind him, running was actually not something very simple. However, this evidently didn't affect Fang Zhengzhi.
Flipping into the air, he directly "fell down" from the horse.
One must frequently maintain his appearance and image, however, he must not be hindered by his image. In certain special circumstances, falling down the horse wasn't actually something bad.
The four demons disguised as scholars were evidently somewhat taken aback by Fang Zhengzhi's 'decisiveness'. After all, Fang Zhengzhi's reputation outside was on the same level as that of Nangong Hao due to being joint first in the Court Theory Examination.
Such a genius and talent.
When being attacked, he didn't even think of fighting back and instead, immediately ran away. And, the way he escaped was so "smooth".
If it was said that the four demons weren't taken aback at all, it was still rather impossible.
However, they quickly recalled Bai Xing's opinion of Fang Zhengzhi. That was that this was a person full of surprises.
Alright…
He indeed was somebody full of surprises.
After destroying the wind valley of the Icy Monkey Settlement, he defeated Nangong Hao's formation, and after that he was actually able to see through their disguises. Every single one of these incidents reflected Fang Zhengzhi's intelligence.
However, when this extremely intelligent person met with danger, he was still able to hide under the horse's stomach without the slightest bit of hesitation and care for his own image.
That was truly "full of surprises".
"Kill!" The four demons gave up their pretence.
Because, there was already no more need to do so. Their next objective was to kill as many scholars participating in this examination as possible, after which use this incident to incite and provoke conflict between the Great Xia and the Southern Mountain Range.
After all, the scholars participating in this examination were too high in "status".
Members of the royal family, descendents of the Thirteen Constabularies, notable families and great clans. When these people perished away from their home country and in the foreign land of the Southern Mountain Range, it would evidently be impossible for the Great Xia to maintain a relationship with the Southern Mountain Range that was as close as before.
However, apart from this task, there was another more important prerequisite task. That was that if they were able to kill off either Fang Zhengzhi or Nangong Hao, it was worth it to give up every other scholar.
The four demons didn't know why such an order would be given.
However, this order was personally given by Bai Xing. Hence, all they had to do was to carry it out.
Initially, their plan was definitely to aim for Fang Zhengzhi. However, Fang Zhengzhi had been constantly surrounded five hundred Silver Horned Wolves, it was too difficult to launch an attack on Fang Zhengzhi.
Hence…
After seeing that the wind valley was defeated, they changed their plan.
They followed Wu Feng and Chen Feiyu and charged into the wind valley, planning to wait until Wu Feng and Chen Feiyu led the army to launch a sneak attack on Nangong Hao before launching their attack on Wu Feng and Nangong Hao at the same time.
However, the outcome of that was that they were trapped within Nangong Hao's formation.
Just as they thought that they were in trouble, a fortunate incident happened once again. Fang Zhengzhi was actually able to defeat the formation, and furthermore, he created a situation filled chaos.
This opportunity was simply one given by Heaven.
Moreover, they indeed couldn't wait any longer.
After all, if they waited any further, Fang Zhengzhi would be able to leave the wind valley. When that time came, with five hundred Silver Horned Wolves beside him in addition to facing against Nangong Hao.
They simply didn't have a chance anymore.
Hence…
The disguised demons naturally attacked very decisively.
What happened afterwards was what everybody had seen. Even though Fang Zhengzhi saw through their identity, he didn't announce it righteously.
Hence, this gave them an opportunity to kill in the name of someone else.
Even though this reason sounded really somewhat exaggerated, the outcome seemed to have achieved their objectives. The group of military commanders didn't lash out immediately.
That was enough.
Within the wind valley, nobody could stop them.
And now, once they broke through the protection of a few Silver Horned Wolves and arrived in front of Fang Zhengzhi, they were filled with confidence that even if Fang Zhengzhi hid under the horse's stomach, he wouldn't be able to avoid this strike.
After all, slashing apart a person along with a horse wasn't something very difficult.
And…
Most importantly, with their abilities, after finishing their assassination, escaping safely was similarly not something too difficult either.
"Die!"
As the four demons roared out at the same time.
A silver glow soared from the tips of their swords, directly cutting down towards Fang Zhengzhi. It moved with blazing speed and gave off a chilling air.
"Quick, protect Guard Fang!" When Teng Shisheng saw this glow, his expression clearly changed. His task was obviously not to protect Fang Zhengzhi.
However, he couldn't just let Fang Zhengzhi die now!
At this moment, a few Silver Horned Wolf Cavalry troops stared with their eyes wide open. The silver glow in front of their eyes was extremely thin. However, the power within caused them to feel a sense of fear rising from within.
The warriors of the Southern Mountain Range were human. They also had times of fear.
However, they were able to transform this fear into a form of belief, a belief that was able to integrate them with the mountain rocks. This belief could ensure that in order to complete certain orders.
They would be willing to sacrifice their lives.
Hence, when Teng Shisheng finished his sentence, the few Silver Horned Wolf Cavalry troops standing behind Fang Zhengzhi soared into the sky and used their bodies to block in front of that silver glow.
Due to the presence of the Silver Horned Wolves behind him, Fang Zhengzhi was initially unable to turn around and run. However, when those Silver Horned Wolves leapt up, this problem seemed to be gone.
A few empty spots appeared behind him.
These empty spots enabled him to easily run a few more steps back. Even though he didn't know if he was able to avoid this silver glow, the probabilities of him doing so would at least be higher.
However, Fang Zhengzhi didn't do that.
It could even be said that when those spots appeared in front of his eyes, he didn't even consider once nor hesitate at all.
Fang Zhengzhi believed that shamelessness was a virtue.
However, this didn't represent that he could casually hide being others and watch as other people used their bodies to defend against a silver glow that should initially be slashing on his body.
Even though these people were the Silver Horned Wolf Cavalry troops that he had only briefly interacted with.
In an instant, Fang Zhengzhi pressed his hand onto his chest. There was a silver Heart Protection Mirror. Within the Heart Protection Mirror, there was a sword.
The sword's name was Traceless!
Fang Zhengzhi didn't know if the Traceless Sword could fend off this silver glow, however, this was indeed the only glimmer of hope he could think of.
After all, this sword had previously defended against General Tai's fatal blow!
"Dong!"
Right at this moment, an extremely melodious tone suddenly rang out. It wasn't loud, however, it seemed to carry with it a terrifying penetrating force.
"Boom!"
A loud boom resounded.
The silver glow seemed to have clashed with something coming from the side. It actually quavered. It didn't disappear, but its power was evidently reduced by a little.
Right at the same time, Teng Shisheng's fist reached again.
A green glow expanded from Teng Shisheng's skin. His fist once again slammed into that silver glow. This caused the silver glow to quaver once again.
It was actually forcefully made to change its course slightly.
Teng Shisheng knew that the Silver Horned Wolf Cavalry troops behind him would protect Fang Zhengzhi. However, knowing was one thing. If it was said that he could bear seeing them do so, that was still rather impossible.
Hence, he used his full strength in this punch.
Even though he couldn't block it entirely, changing its course slightly was sufficient to protect lives.
"Woosh!"
The silver glow finally landed.
Two screams rang out at the same time. One of them came from a horse Fang Zhengzhi initially rode on. It wasn't too noble, however it was still one of the top breeds among horses.
However, at this moment, one of the horse's front legs was cut into two by the silver glow.
The other sound obviously originated from a Silver Horned Wolf who had leapt into the air. Its front legs were injured as well. However, both of its legs were slashed into two and sent flying into the air.
Fresh blood…
Spurted out like a fountain.
This wasn't the end. After slashing a horse and a beast, the silver glow didn't seem to bear any intention of stopping. It continued to fly forwards and cut downwards.
This caused the few Silver Horned Wolf Cavalry troops initially standing behind Fang Zhengzhi to give off bloodcurdling cries.
However, these cries occured after the previous two.
One slash!
After clashing with the musical note and being slammed into by Teng Shisheng's full-powered punch, it was still sufficient to injure five to six Silver Horned Wolf Cavalry troops.
From this, one could infer the power of that sword.
Fang Zhengzhi's hand remained pressed upon his chest. Because, he saw that this sword was diverted off course. Hence, he naturally didn't unshealth the Traceless Sword immediately.
After all, he wasn't a hundred percent sure that the Traceless Sword was able to defend against this slash.
"Stop them!"
"They aren't humans, they are demons!"
"Protect the scholars, we mustn't allow the demons to accomplish anything!"
Just as Fang Zhengzhi prepared to shout out that these people were demons, waves of shouting already rang out beside his ear.
This caused him to feel somewhat confused.
What was this about?
Who had such a fast reaction?
As he thought, he finally saw a figure standing not too far away.
That was a youth wearing an intricately designed jade green armour. He held a jade flute to this mouth in one of his hands, while the other held on to a mask.
Under his feet, "Young Master Li", who was down to his last breath, revealed his true appearance. A glimmering demon eye could be seen on his forehead, glowing with light.
At this moment, Fang Zhengzhi recalled the melodious, yet containing immense penetrative power, sound. If he didn't predict wrongly, that sound should have originated from the jade flute in Wu Feng's hands.
It seems that…
The Dao of music could be so strong.
When Fang Zhengzhi captured Wu Feng, he naturally didn't give him any opportunities to exercise his Dao of music. Moreover, he didn't even leave the jade flute for Wu Feng to use.
Hence, even though he knew that Wu Feng was apparently quite strong.
He had never truly seen Wu Feng use the Dao of music.
This could be counted as the first time he had seen it.
This caused him to be more or less startled. Even though the power from the Dao of music didn't appear to be extremely powerful, it seemed to possess a clear advantage.
It had a blazing fast speed!
Furthermore, other than its extreme speed, the location it appeared was extremely mysterious. It was actually able to hit an extremely narrow silver glow using sound with such precision from such a long distance away.
This element of surprise and accuracy.
Wasn't something an average Dao of All Creation could compare to.
Wu Feng!
The scholar ranked number three in the Rising Dragon Roll, the student of one of the four sages. His power was indeed rather incredible. I wonder if I will be able to defend against this attack of the Dao of music?
Fang Zhengzhi pondered for a moment and felt that he had only a fifty percent chance of being able to do so.
Hence, he quickly changed his train of thought. If he really had an opportunity to fight against Wu Feng, he would make sure to steal the jade flute from his hands first. Or, he would ensure that Wu Feng didn't have the opportunity to blow the flute.
This way, his chances of winning would increase to eighty percent!
A perfect plan.
Of course, Fang Zhengzhi didn't have to consider where that sound came from anymore. Because, when Wu Feng peeled off that "Young Master Li"'s mask, the truth immediately rose to the surface.
Moreover, that deadly attack from those four people had already completely revealed their true intentions.
"Quick, take them down!" At this moment, the military commanders didn't even need Fang Zhengzhi to give any orders before acting immediately. Furthermore, at the same time, all the soldiers behind them drew back their bows.
When the four demons saw this scene, the expressions on their faces appeared somewhat pained. After all, using the same technique as they just did had some rather serious consequences.
"Seems that the four of you are from the demon race?! Don't even think of harming the citizens of our Great Xia. Today, I will fight you with my life!" Right at this moment, the two scholars following behind the demons gave off a terrified cry. Immediately after which, they moved sideways and actually leapt across the four demons and blocked in front of Fang Zhengzhi.