Chapter 511 - 507: Fierce Battle Against Meng Zhao
Chapter 511: Chapter 507: Fierce Battle Against Meng Zhao
The surrounding area was unrecognizable. The ground had been carved up by Sword Qi, leaving a crisscrossing network of deep gullies. The deepest of them were several feet deep.
Shattered rocks were swept up, only to be pulverized into dust mid-air by the lingering Sword Qi.
The pine forest to one side had fared even worse. Pine trees as thick as bowls were snapped in half at the trunk. Broken branches and leaves danced through the air before being ignited by the scorching wind from the swords and turning to ash.
Two figures flickered rapidly across the ravaged battlefield, one cyan and one crimson, like two bolts of intertwining lightning.
Every clash was accompanied by a world-shaking roar, and every time they broke apart, a new gash was left in the earth.
Meng Zhao’s sword grew increasingly fierce.
The crimson longsword in his hand transformed into searing ribbons of light, slashing at Fang Han from all sorts of difficult angles.
His Swordsmanship was ferocious and domineering, each strike carrying the terrifying might unique to a First Grade Martial Artist.
Fang Han met his attacks calmly, his sword light flashing like a sudden clap of thunder, sharp and peerless.
The Sky-Splitting Sword Technique, at the Mastery Realm, unfolded in his hands. Wherever his sword light passed, the air was silently torn, leaving behind faint, almost invisible, transparent scars.
’He’s actually this tough to deal with!’
As the fight wore on, Meng Zhao’s brow furrowed ever deeper.
He had assumed that, under the full force of his power, this junior, merely at the Late Stage of Third Grade, wouldn’t last long.
However, he was disappointed.
After fighting for so long, not only had he failed to defeat Fang Han, but he had nearly been wounded by Fang Han’s sword several times.
What made him even more wary was the incredibly sharp intent contained within that sword light. Every time their blades met, a formless Spiritual Shock would stab directly into his mind.
The shock came abruptly and violently, like an invisible blade plunging viciously into his mind.
Even with the spiritual power of a First Grade Martial Artist, he couldn’t help but feel his mind tremble under this constant Spiritual Shock, his consciousness momentarily lapsing.
In a battle between experts, that single moment of daze was the difference between life and death.
SHIIING—!
A Cyan Sword Light grazed past Meng Zhao’s right arm.
He snapped out of his daze and twisted his body with all his might, but he was still a fraction of a second too slow.
The blade’s edge sliced across the outside of his right arm, tearing his sleeve and leaving an inch-long wound on his forearm.
Blood seeped out, soaking his crimson cuff.
"Hmph—"
Meng Zhao grunted, taking several steps back. He glanced down at the wound on his right arm before looking up at Fang Han.
His once-calm face was now filled with disbelief and a grimness he couldn’t suppress.
He was wounded.
A magnificent First Grade Martial Artist like himself had actually been wounded first by a junior at the Late Stage of Third Grade.
Although it was only a superficial wound that didn’t affect his combat strength, the implication behind it sent tumultuous waves crashing through his heart.
Fang Han stood with his sword in hand, breathing lightly.
His cyan robes now had several new tears cut by the searing Sword Qi, and fine beads of sweat trickled from his temples.
"Your strength has actually grown so much."
Meng Zhao said.
His voice was hoarse, tinged with a wariness that even he was unwilling to admit.
"You, on the other hand, haven’t improved much at all."
Fang Han retorted mockingly.
"Don’t get cocky. If I didn’t have a mission to attend to, I wouldn’t mind taking some injuries to kill you right here."
Meng Zhao said, his voice laced with anger.
"I’m afraid you don’t have the strength for that."
Fang Han said coldly.
"Arrogant whelp. The next time we meet, I will kill you."
Meng Zhao gave Fang Han a deep look, then his figure drifted backward, preparing to retreat.
However—
"Did I say you could leave?"
Fang Han’s voice was as placid as still water, yet it carried an unquestionable chill.
Meng Zhao’s retreating steps faltered slightly.
A hint of disbelief flashed in his sharp eyes, followed by the greater feeling of offended anger.
"What do you mean by that?"
His voice was low, laced with suppressed fury.
"Meng Zhao."
Fang Han stood with his sword, his gaze as calm as water. His voice wasn’t loud, but every word was clear.
"You’ve come after me with malicious intent twice now, trying to ambush and kill me. And now that you see you can’t, you think you can just walk away?"
He paused, his voice suddenly turning cold.
"There’s no such easy way out in this world. If I let you leave today, you’ll surely gather your sect-mates to come after me again. Rather than wait for that, I’d better just leave you here for good."
’The reason he was unwilling to let Meng Zhao leave wasn’t just because Meng Zhao had tried to kill him twice, but also because something had occurred to him—’
’Meng Zhao’s appearance in Songquan County doesn’t necessarily mean he’s alone.’
’It’s highly likely there are other First-Grade Elders from the Red Flame Sect nearby.’
’If I let Meng Zhao retreat and rendezvous with that other First-Grade Elder, they would hunt me down together. With my current strength, I would have no way of resisting them.’
In that instant, Meng Zhao’s expression turned extremely ugly.
"You want to kill me?"
His voice was hoarse, filled with a mix of disbelief and irrepressible anger.
"With just your strength?"
"That’s right. With just my strength!"
Fang Han’s reply was concise and certain.
As the words fell, a thought crossed his mind.
The seemingly ordinary, pitch-black ring on his left index finger suddenly flashed with an imperceptible glimmer of light.
The Cloud Splitting Sword vanished from his hand.
In its place was a longsword, complete with its scabbard, that was a pale cyan color from top to bottom.
The Sword Scabbard had no extra adornments. It was simple to the extreme, yet it emanated a restrained, unignorable sharpness.
"What is...?"
In that instant, Meng Zhao’s pupils contracted sharply.
In his sharp eyes, the initial anger and disbelief were replaced by a much stronger emotion—shock.
’The sword Fang Han was just holding was clearly a different one.’
’And that sword had just vanished into thin air—it wasn’t dropped, it wasn’t hidden in his sleeve. It simply disappeared before his very eyes, replaced by another sword.’
’This was no illusion.’
’With the eyesight of a First Grade Martial Artist, no illusion could deceive him.’
’This was a technique he had never seen before, something he had only read about in ancient texts—a Storage Treasure!’
’Fang Han actually possessed a legendary Storage Treasure!’
A Storage Treasure was a priceless item that could only be found in Ancient Ruins. It contained its own independent space where items could be stored and carried around.
Even Grandmaster Powerhouses rarely possessed one, yet he had just seen such a legendary treasure on a young man at the Late Stage of Third Grade.
"You actually have a Storage Treasure..."
Meng Zhao’s voice was hoarse, filled with unrestrainable shock and greed.
’The Red Flame Sect and Thunderlight Pavilion had ambushed Fang Han’s group to seize the treasures he had obtained from the Ancient Ruins.’
’At the time, they had only guessed that Fang Han might have acquired something extremely precious from the Ancient Ruins.’
’The result was just as they’d guessed. Not only had Fang Han obtained a treasure, but it was a legendary Storage Treasure.’
’Its value far surpassed that of an ordinary Grandmaster Technique or Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.’
’The only thing he hadn’t expected was that, in just two months, Fang Han’s strength had skyrocketed to this level, his combat power already on par with an average First Grade Martial Artist.’
This level of Talent, this rate of growth, made Meng Zhao feel a deep sense of wariness and even a faint trace of fear.
Before Meng Zhao could think any further, Fang Han moved.
His right hand gripped the hilt of the Wind Shocking Sword, and he slowly drew it from its scabbard.
KEEEENG—!
The incomparably clear ring of a sword echoed along the empty main road.
The body of the blade was a pale cyan, a lighter shade than the scabbard. It wasn’t the dark cyan of the Cloud Splitting Sword, but a clear, azure blue like the sky after a rainstorm.
The blade was as thin as a cicada’s wing, yet it exuded a heart-stopping sharpness.
Fang Han poured the Inner Qi from his Cyan Profound Technique into the blade.
VMMMMM—
The sword’s body suddenly lit up with a faint, cyan-blue radiance. The light wasn’t blinding, but it carried a sharpness that made one afraid to look at it directly.
Under this radiance, the air around the blade’s edge began to silently split apart, forming fine cracks—the marks left by air being torn by its sharpness.
A power far greater than before surged from the sword, emitting a terrifying aura.
Furthermore, an indescribable feeling emerged.
It was as if a subtle resonance had formed between him and the sword. The blade was no longer a weapon in his hand, but a part of his body, an extension of his will.
After returning to the Sect from his trip to the Ancient Ruins, he had consulted the Sect’s books on weaponry in detail and learned about Spiritual Weapons.
At the level of a Spiritual Weapon, a weapon was no longer just about being sturdy and durable. Its most precious quality was its ability to drastically increase one’s combat power.
And this Wind Shocking Sword, as a Low-Grade Spiritual Weapon, could double his combat power.
Doubling his combat power was an extremely powerful enhancement.
His combat power was already comparable to a First Grade Martial Artist. Now, with it doubled—
SWOOSH!
Fang Han’s figure blurred into motion.
Without building up momentum, without any probing attacks, he pushed his Wind God Step to its absolute limit. He became a bolt of cyan-blue lightning, crossing over a hundred feet in an instant.
The Wind Shocking Sword thrust forward.
There were no fancy Transformations in this strike, just a simple, direct thrust. But the moment the sword shot forward, the world itself seemed to freeze for an instant.
Wherever the tip of the sword passed, the air silently split open, leaving a crack over ten feet long.
The crack was as clear as a blade’s cut through paper, and it lingered for a long time.
Even more terrifying, a Spiritual Shock far more powerful than before erupted with the thrust, stabbing straight into Meng Zhao’s mind.
Meng Zhao had just snapped out of the shock brought on by the Storage Treasure when he saw a cyan-blue sword light already before him.
A Spiritual Shock flooded his mind a moment before the blade arrived, causing his consciousness, already dazed from shock, to go blank for an instant.
And in that instant.
CLANG—!
In his haste, Meng Zhao only had time to raise his sword horizontally to block.
The crimson longsword and the Wind Shocking Sword collided, erupting in a piercing shriek of metal on metal.
An irresistible, immense force traveled up the blade. Meng Zhao felt the webbing between his thumb and forefinger split open, and his entire right arm went instantly numb with pain. The crimson longsword flew from his grasp, carving an arc through the air before plunging into the dirt several dozen feet away.
The remaining Sword Momentum of the Wind Shocking Sword didn’t diminish. It continued onward, viciously striking Meng Zhao in the chest.
SQUELCH—!
The dull sound of a blade sinking into flesh echoed across the open fields.
The high-quality, crimson Soft Armor Meng Zhao wore was torn apart like paper before the Sword Intent-enhanced Spiritual Weapon.
The Sword Qi penetrated the armor, leaving a gruesome gash across his chest that nearly split him in two diagonally.
It was deep enough to show bone. Blood gushed out like a fountain, instantly soaking half his robes.