Chapter 5: Thousand Demon Blade (1)
Poof.
I'm finally forced out of my Gang Sphere state.
I survey my surroundings to see the man who just rescued my opponent.
'He wasn't supposed to arrive yet. How did he get here so fast?'
'This complicates things.'
'I can't take them all on at once. Three should be manageable, though.'
'I need to take out that guy, that guy, and... uh, that guy?'
'Did I ever bother asking their names?'
'Doesn't matter. All I need to do is take him out—the rest can wait.'
I ready my sword stance and begin the Third Move of the Plum Blossom Bloom technique.
Third Move: Blurry Soil.
Disguising my presence from my opponents, I propel myself using Gang Qi and instantly execute the Fourth Move.
Fourth Move: Undaunted Will.
Using the speed gathered from the Third Move, I lunge toward my opponent at an astonishing rate.
Baek Meng, who was just observing his opponent, suddenly realizes that the opponent has vanished.
Sensing danger, he quickly pulls out a wide formation tablet, which is connected to dozens of smaller auxiliary tablets.
The tablets combine to form a giant tree.
The tree, resembling an oak, stands 30 meters tall and 5 meters wide.
Leaving the tree giant to protect Baek Shen, Baek Meng pulls out another tablet, this one snowy, and creates a battlefield full of hail.
He channels his divine sense through the tablet, sensing everything the hail touches.
Touch.
The Gang Qi left by Yi Shan comes into contact with the hail, revealing his location.
'There you are.'
Baek Meng forms an incantation gesture, producing a serpent made of lightning that shoots toward Yi Shan.
Yi Shan senses the lightning serpent and dodges, but not without suffering slight scratches.
Some residual lightning clings to him, which Baek Meng quickly transforms into vines, skillfully manipulating them to bind Yi Shan.
Yi Shan tries to cut the vines with his sword energy, but they hold tight.
He then channels his Gang Qi, severing the vines.
'This guy's even more dangerous than that spear-wielding man.'
'But it'll take more than this to defeat me.'
Stomping his foot, Yi Shan produces nine Gang Spheres, seven of which transform into clones.
Yi Shan absorbs the remaining two spheres and instructs the clones to perform the Plum Blossom Bloom technique.
Each clone begins executing one of the moves of the technique, while Yi Shan scatters sword energy throughout the battlefield in preparation for the Eighth Move.
Baek Meng throws a tablet at the clone performing the First Move of the technique.
Boom.
An explosion shatters the clone.
As the second clone advances, Baek Meng uses his spiritual energy to float three tablets in front of him. The tablets spin rapidly, converting into an earthen wall to shield him.
The light from the Second Move is blocked by the wall.
The third clone moves forward and merges with the fourth to lunge at Baek Meng.
Leaping into the air, the clone performs an aerial lunge using the Fourth Move.
Baek Meng notices too late; the clone has scattered his divine sense from its location.
The clone strikes his shoulder, but Baek Meng protects himself using the Pure Spiritual Force of the Qi Building stage.
The clone, realizing this, swings its sword at the tablet, shattering the earthen wall.
The wall crumbles as the clone fades.
Sensing an opportunity, the fifth clone combines with the remaining two to execute the final three moves.
A horizontal slash aims for Baek Meng's abdomen.
Baek Meng barely dodges the attack, but before he can catch his breath, the clone kicks his head.
Dazed, Baek Meng struggles to regain focus.
Seeing an opening, the clone performs a sideways horizontal slash from his right shoulder.
The sword strikes and lodges into Baek Meng's shoulder.
Despite the injury, Baek Meng ignores the pain and punches the clone, shattering it.
'That hurt like hell.'
Baek Meng glances at his shoulder, now a bloody mess. Though he can heal the damage through cultivation, it will set him back a few weeks.
'Sneaky bastard. Where are you hiding now?'
He scans the forest, but Yi Shan is nowhere to be found.
'What's he up to?'
Instead of worry, a broad smile crosses Baek Meng's face.
'You shouldn't have given me time to prepare.'
He begins throwing tablets left and right.
A hundred, to be precise.
Among them are three jade tablets that orbit Baek Meng, glowing ominously and dwarfing the others in size.
'You'll regret letting me set this up, boy.'
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Yi Shan continues plotting sword energy while the clones keep Baek Meng distracted.
By the time all the clones are destroyed, he has placed about 60% of the spiritual energy required for the Eighth Move.
Yi Shan glances at Baek Meng, who is preparing something.
'What's his deal? Wasting so much money like that. Does he even realize how much those tablets are worth?'
'How does he even make so many talismans?'
Yi Shan winces at Baek Meng's reckless fighting style.
'I should finish setting up the formation. He can do stuff on his own for now.'
Yi Shan continues to spread sword energy throughout the forest.
Earlier, his Eighth Move against Baek Shen was rushed and incomplete, a hastily-made dome.
This time, he infuses Gang Qi into the dome, fortifying it.
'I need to give it everything I've got.'
As he lays down the sword energy, something catches his eye.
A silhouette flickers briefly.
'Huh? What was that?'
'Was that... me?'
He looks down at his sword and sees a small crack.
'Damn, I need to be careful, or this thing's going to break.'
Seeing his sword in such poor shape pains Yi Shan.
"This is the last time, buddy. I promise you'll be good as new after this."
With that, he takes another swing, pouring more sword energy into the dome.
This dome is far stronger than the one he used against Baek Shen, combining sword energy with Gang Qi. Yi Shan can control the Gang Qi at will, and it's far more powerful than normal sword energy, with the added ability to slice through the Pure Spiritual Force used by Qi Condensation cultivators.
A smile spreads across the faces of both martial artists as they simultaneously say:
"Let's see how you handle this."
"Let's see how you handle this."
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Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, two cultivators are seen flying frantically.
"Hey, Uncle Long, how did Uncle Meng blitz off like that?"
The burly man replies to Baek Wu with a serious expression.
"I don't know for sure, but it seems that your Uncle Baek Shen's life was in danger. He used a Flying Escape Technique slip he got from one of the Grand Elders to save Baek Shen's life."
Baek Wu wipes the sweat from his brow, remembering his Uncle Meng's words about Baek Shen.
"Uncle Shen was defeated by that demon. Will Uncle Meng be alright?"
He quickly asks Uncle Long.
"Oh, he'll be fine. We came here with a foolproof plan. Just follow along and watch your elders fight." Uncle Long replies with a benevolent smile.
Hearing this puzzles Baek Wu, but inwardly, he breathes a sigh of relief.
'So, that demon is no match for the Baek clan after all.'
With his confidence bolstered, Baek Wu increases his flight speed.
Chapter 5: Thousand Demon Blade (1)