Chapter 153: The Zhanliu Blade |
Was this truly the Eighth Prince who carried not a trace of True Qi?
Or was it in fact some martial expert hiding in the shadows behind him who had acted?
Hu Rui'an's expression shifted through a rapid succession of changes, his thoughts in turmoil. He had completely lost track of the teasing Li Musheng had directed at him just moments ago, and was now simply staring at Li Musheng without stop, as though trying to read some clue from the man's appearance.
Faced with Hu Rui'an's piercing gaze, Li Musheng paid him no mind and instead turned to look at Shen Liancheng.
He had worked out the relationships among those present. In essence, Hu Rui'an had been secretly meeting with the wife of this Zhanliu Manor Master and had been caught in the act.
Now Shen Liancheng was wearing a green patch above his brow, and naturally had no intention of letting the matter go.
Even so, this had nothing to do with Li Musheng, since it was Hu Rui'an who had gone after someone else's wife, not him.
With that thought, Li Musheng looked at Shen Liancheng across from him and spoke calmly, saying, "Manor Master Shen, I am a reasonable person. You and the Alliance Under Heaven conspired in secret to poison our entire group. Are you going to settle this by dying in atonement here and now, or would you prefer that I take your life myself?"
The moment those words landed, the entire room went utterly still, so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
But even though he could not be certain, he naturally could not afford the slightest carelessness because of it.
Shen Liancheng remained vigilant and alert, locking onto Li Musheng and treating him as a genuine formidable adversary. The vast True Qi within him circulated quietly, and together with the heaven and earth True Qi around him, which he drew under his control from the surrounding environment, it began gathering toward the space above the small courtyard in an instant, condensing in the blink of an eye into a blade shadow wrapped in crimson light.
At the same time, the short blade hanging at Shen Liancheng's waist, its scabbard inlaid with the bronze deer-head ornament, began to ring out with a resonant, vibrating hum.
The short blade and the blade shadow above responded to each other across the distance, as though binding and sealing this entire stretch of heaven and earth within the courtyard. The air around them filled with the invisible glittering of countless blade lights, all ringing out together, poised and ready, as though containing a terrifying force capable of cutting down everything in existence.
Feeling this, whether it was Ruan Zhenhui, Shen Anran, or Hu Rui'an, every one of them had their expression change.
"Liancheng, all of this is my fault alone, and has nothing to do with this young man. I am willing to accept whatever you decide to do to me without a word of complaint. I only ask that you spare him and my cousin."
Ruan Zhenhui shifted from Shen Anran's arms and rushed to Shen Liancheng's side, pleading with a face full of urgency.
In order to keep Ruan Zhenhui from being hurt, Shen Anran naturally followed close behind, standing guard at her side.
Her gaze fell on Li Musheng opposite. From the moment he had appeared without a sound on the rooftop, to the moment he had moved to deflect her father's strike, she was almost entirely certain that his martial Dao cultivation was extraordinary beyond anything she had seen in her life.
In the days during which Zhanliu Manor had been holding the martial arts contest for her hand in marriage, she had seen no shortage of outstanding young talent from across the martial world. And given her own reputation in the martial world, she had also previously followed Shen Liancheng on visits to top-tier sects like Falling God Peak and the Alliance Under Heaven, where she had encountered many young men praised as martial prodigies.
Yet every one of them was so far beneath Li Musheng by comparison that there was no point even making the comparison.
To be honest, had it not been for the present situation, she would have been deeply impressed by him.
And even under these circumstances, a feeling of admiration for talent had risen in her heart. If it were at all possible, she did not want to see someone so young meet their end here at her father's hands.
After all, as a cultivator of the Zhanliu Blade Art herself, she understood all too clearly how terrifying her father's swordsmanship was when he deployed it.
"The great Qi rose and fell, and all under heaven contended for the deer. Only the victor may bring down the deer."
The Shen family's Zhanliu Blade and the Zhanliu Blade Art had both originated from this saying.
A century past, the Zhanliu Blade had shaken the entire world. It had been forged by the very last "Heavenly Artisan" weaponsmith of Great Qi.
On the day the blade was completed, an extraordinary portent appeared in the heavens, and some in the martial world even believed it could claim a place on the world's weapon rankings, becoming the twenty-fourth weapon to be listed.
But later, with the fall of Great Qi, in a catastrophic and world-shaking battle, the Zhanliu Blade had been damaged and lost its true power.
It ultimately fell into the hands of Shen Anran's grandfather, a man of breathtaking martial genius, and had since been passed on to Shen Liancheng.
Even so, though the Zhanliu Blade was damaged and had lost its chance to appear on the weapon rankings, it remained a divine weapon of the first order without question.
Especially in combination with the Zhanliu Blade Art, it could still unleash an extraordinarily formidable force.
So in Shen Anran's eyes, even if Li Musheng's martial Dao cultivation was genuinely close to Shen Liancheng's, with her father deploying the Zhanliu Blade he would absolutely be no match for him.
Shen Anran bit lightly at her lip, her gaze on Li Musheng. She wanted to add her voice to her mother's plea and appeal to Shen Liancheng's mercy. She thought perhaps the situation could be defused, because from what Li Musheng had said earlier, it seemed both Hu Rui'an and her father bore some fault. If both sides could let go of their grievances, perhaps tonight's affair could be resolved peacefully.
At this moment, Hu Rui'an, seeing the technique Shen Liancheng had unleashed, was also shaken.
To speak the truth, even in his prime, he would have been no match for Shen Liancheng when the man deployed the Zhanliu Blade.
He was not sure whether Li Musheng, or rather the martial expert hidden behind Li Musheng, could withstand Shen Liancheng in his current state.
With that thought, his heart sank, and he was just about to speak and take all the blame upon himself, imploring Shen Liancheng to spare Li Musheng.
But just at that moment, the short blade at Shen Liancheng's waist with its ringing hum, the countless blade lights filling the air of the room, and the terrifying crimson blade shadow hanging over the courtyard, all vanished without a trace in a single instant.
Shen Liancheng's expression shifted abruptly, and at the same time a hoarse, aged voice drifted down from somewhere above the entire courtyard, saying, "Liancheng, stand down."
In the next instant, with the faint sound of a light gust of wind passing, an elderly figure appeared in the room as if from nowhere, a man with a full head of snow-white hair.
The old man was dressed in a white robe, his hair white as a crane yet his complexion fresh and ruddy. Two long white eyebrows fell to his chest, and his eyes held a penetrating brightness.
There was not the slightest stoop in his frame. His back was straight as a rod, and standing between Shen Liancheng and Li Musheng, he was like a mountain in human form.
Then the old man gently stroked his beard, looked Li Musheng over with a smile, gave what appeared to be a satisfied nod, and spoke first, saying, "Young friend, if Zhanliu Manor has caused any offense, I ask for your understanding. Why not let the matter end here?"