Chapter 30: Jealous |
Seeing that Ning Qi didn’t say anything.
The chubby Zhuang Chen launched into chatterbox mode.
“Ning Qi, really, just step down.”
“Ning Qi, that wasn’t even my full strength just now.”
“Ning Qi, why are you ignoring me.”
“Ning Qi, are you maybe not too bright? Sigh, if you won’t step down, I’ll go easy on you.”
When Zhuang Chen finally couldn’t help blurting that last sentence, everyone had strange expressions.
Divine Sword Sect’s Senior Brother and Divine Sword Elder both twitched at the corners of their mouths.
Daoist Longshan smiled faintly.
Ning Qi looked speechlessly at Zhuang Chen and finally spoke:
“If you keep talking, your master’s going to beat you up.”
Zhuang Chen turned around and, seeing Divine Sword Elder’s increasingly dark face, couldn’t help sniffing hard.
He reached behind him and drew his pitch-black wooden sword, his entire aura starting to change.
A sense of sharpness began to rise and coil around him, making Ning Qi slightly surprised. Facing it personally, he realized just how great a shift this kid went through.
If Zhuang Chen earlier was just a silly, gluttonous chubby boy, now he truly carried the shadow of a peerless swordsman in the making.
“Ning Qi, are you going barehanded?”
Zhuang Chen’s voice now held none of the earlier casual tone; in this state, he clearly sensed Ning Qi wasn’t ordinary.
Ning Qi raised his brow slightly.
“I’ll use a sword too.”
He hadn’t specialized in swordsmanship, but he had read more than enough sword manuals. With his full-level comprehension, even casually picking something up surpassed others’ years of hard work. Besides, mastering one path meant understanding all paths. Myriad Phenomena Fist was also Myriad Phenomena Sword.
The chubby kid might be a prodigy in the way of the sword, but before Ning Qi, he still had a ways to go.
Fighting intent rose in Zhuang Chen’s eyes.
“Then why don’t you have a sword.”
Just as he said that.
From the Zhenwu Sect’s side, Ye Qinghe called out:
“Little Junior Brother, catch!”
A wooden sword, sized to fit Ning Qi’s height, shot through the air. Ning Qi didn’t turn around, simply reached out casually, and the sword landed perfectly in his palm as if it had a spirit of its own.
It looked ordinary to most, but Divine Sword Elder narrowed his eyes instantly.
There was a hint of uncertainty and suspicion.
Sensing that Ning Qi wasn’t simple, Zhuang Chen began to grin. Practicing swordsmanship was his greatest passion. Facing different sword experts made him very happy. But in Divine Sword Sect, there were no same-age opponents worthy of him—not even those a few years older.
“Ning Qi, be careful!”
His chubby body moved with surprising agility. He had clearly entered the Muscle Refinement stage. In Muscle Refinement, the tendons and sinews were tempered, granting extraordinary flexibility and mobility—allowing the body to perform nearly impossible maneuvers.
Like now.
Zhuang Chen lunged with a sword thrust, his wrist twisting to create over a dozen sword flowers. Cries of astonishment rose from the crowd.
His expression was solemn—gone was the silly look—now replaced with a sharp edge.
Those sword flowers seemed light and fluttery, yet carried a heavy force, like a great cauldron, like a boulder.
“Effortless heaviness!”
Qin Yun spoke each word slowly.
His gaze turned sharp.
Zhuang Chen had already shown the high realm of lifting heavy as though light, able to unleash and withdraw power freely. Now, to casually perform over a dozen strikes of effortless heaviness—such a level of swordsmanship appearing in an eight-year-old was unimaginable.
“So this is the Innate Sword Bone?”
Qin Yun fell silent inside.
He had scoffed a bit at Divine Sword Elder’s words earlier, but now he was quiet.
Ning Qi held the wooden sword loosely in one hand.
His body was flawless, capable of lifting one hundred thousand jin with a swing. If he used full force, he could squash the chubby kid with one palm. Even Daoist Longshan didn’t know how absurd Ning Qi’s physical foundation truly was.
Not to mention, Ning Qi’s swordsmanship was far beyond Zhuang Chen’s. The two weren’t even on the same level.
But there was no need to show off.
Ning Qi was making a move.
Partly because he was a bit curious about the Longxiao Sword—it had belonged to a Qi Origin Realm expert, after all. But more than that, he was standing up for the sect. A disciple should shoulder the burden when the master faces a challenge. He had to win back this honor. Whether Daoist Longshan cared or not was his own business.
“I’ll just use strength about the same as the chubby kid’s, right?”
For Ning Qi, that wasn’t hard at all.
As the sword light approached.
Ning Qi still didn’t move.
This puzzled the people of Divine Sword Sect.
But Zhuang Chen felt an unprecedented pressure. Ning Qi hadn’t even drawn his sword—just stood there casually—yet it felt like he was facing tens of thousands of invisible swords. Sweat was already forming on his forehead.
He had never faced such an opponent before.
Zhuang Chen shouted.
Finally unable to bear the pressure.
He gave it his all. The dozen sword flowers vanished, and the wooden sword stabbed forward plainly—but with a piercing sword cry, sharp and clear.
Even Daoist Longshan couldn’t help exclaiming:
“This is... unity of man and sword?”
Though Zhuang Chen seemed to have only just glimpsed that realm, it was still astonishing.
Divine Sword Elder, for once, wasn’t feeling triumphant—because in Ning Qi, he saw something even more terrifying. A look of shock gradually rose in his eyes.
Ning Qi finally moved.
He calmly looked at Zhuang Chen, raised his hand casually, and slashed—a breeze brushing past a willow branch.
Neither fast nor forceful, perhaps even a bit weaker than Zhuang Chen’s strike, but it carried a beauty and artistic conception that captivated the soul.
In Zhuang Chen’s eyes.
Ning Qi’s sword was like a gust of wind, like a drifting cloud—light and gentle, yet omnipresent, unavoidable.
Zhuang Chen’s eyes widened, nearly in a daze.
By the time he came back to his senses.
He realized his own sword had fallen to the ground at some point, and Ning Qi’s sword was resting gently on his chubby belly.
Ning Qi grinned and tapped the chubby belly with the tip of his sword:
“A sword should be used like this.”
Looking at the stunned little chubby boy, he couldn’t help feeling both guilty for bullying a kid—and a bit delighted.
At this moment.
The entire arena was silent.
Everyone around stared blankly at the scene. Divine Sword Sect’s members were in disbelief, stunned that Zhuang Chen had been instantly defeated.
Among the Zhenwu Sect, disciples who had never seen Ning Qi in action were thrilled.
“Ninth Uncle (Ninth Senior Brother) is this strong?!”
Ye Qinghe stuck out her tongue in secret.
“Little Nine is truly a freak. Even I can’t fully grasp that level of swordsmanship.”
She had thought Ning Qi would overpower the chubby kid with sheer strength and beat him up, but hadn’t expected him to suppress him purely with swordsmanship.
In just one instant, Ning Qi had become the center of everyone’s attention.
Qin Yun watched, his expression complex.
There was joy, but also a hint of sourness.
Divine Sword Elder felt waves crashing in his heart.
At that moment.
He finally understood why Daoist Longshan had only marveled earlier—but hadn’t shown any envy.
With a disciple like this—who could still envy someone else’s disciple?!
He suppressed his jealousy and said with a voice full of sour bitterness:
“So young and already comprehending sword intent, forging his own path in the way of the sword... a Sword Saint in the making... Daoist Longshan, what kind of dogsh*t luck did you step in…”
Daoist Longshan laughed heartily, feigning ease.
“Divine Sword Brother flatters me, flatters me.”
But truthfully, he was a bit dumbfounded too.
He had only known that Ning Qi’s Body Tempering progress was insane, but he had never seen Ning Qi display his swordsmanship. That one strike today had blown away his previous understanding.
“Such a sword freak... might actually be wasted in your Zhenwu Sect...”
Hearing the envy and desire hidden in Divine Sword Elder’s words.
Daoist Longshan became alert—this guy had his eyes on his precious gem!
“I’m warning you, don’t you dare get any funny ideas!”
Divine Sword Elder curled his lip—he was just saying.
He looked back toward the arena.
Ning Qi remained calm and unruffled. Then he looked at his own silly disciple.
And couldn’t help but feel that sourness rise up again.
At this moment.
Zhuang Chen finally snapped out of his daze. Passion flared in his eyes, and with a thud, he hugged Ning Qi’s leg.
“Ning Qi, what was that sword move just now? Can you teach me? I’ll even take you as my master!”
Divine Sword Elder’s face turned pitch-black.
This rebellious brat!
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