Stranger Danger

A sword was a sword user’s best friend, and a sword user who entrusted their spirit and soul to their sword was called a swordsman.

A swordsman could be separated into two categories: one who wields the sword, and one who manipulates the sword. In battle, a swordsman who wields the sword never allows their sword to leave their hand. They mainly cultivated their sword qi, and they excelled in close-ranged combat and offense.

A swordsman who manipulates the sword mainly cultivated their sword intent. They could take to the sky using their sword and behead an enemy from hundreds of kilometers away.

Most swordsmen who manipulated the sword used longswords as their primary weapon, but a small minority used sword pellets instead. A sword pellet was a swordsman’s sword intent condensed into a round-shaped object. Capable of cutting metal like clay yet remaining flexible enough to twirl round and round one’s finger, it was a weapon that possessed limitless potential. Not only that, the wielder could also change its form or the distance with a single thought.

Right now, Defeated was using a sword pellet art called Brilliant Thunder. A long time ago, he had stumbled upon an ancient swordsman martial arts manual, and recorded inside its papers was the method to create the sword pellet, Brilliant Thunder and a swordkinesis technique. The attack he unleashed just now was none other than that swordkinesis technique, “Dragon Serpent Rise”.

When dragons and serpents rise, the heavens turned, and the earth flipped upside down. When the thunderous dragon of sword qi crashed down on Dream Master, everything within ten meters around the man exploded into lightning, the wind and clouds were broken down to the atoms, and the earth was cut into many fine cubes by the outburst of sword qi. Powerful wasn’t good enough a word to describe the technique.

“An ancient sword pellet technique? I have heard that Defeated is an expert in hundreds of martial arts both old and new. I can tell that the rumors are true.”

However, a crisp, melodious voice pierced through the roar of thunder. The next moment, the cloud of lightning and sword qi parted as meekly as a lamb, and Dream Master slowly stepped out into the open.

For the first time, a hint of shock and disbelief broke through the stoicism that normally clouded Defeated’s eyes.

He could believe that Dream Master was strong enough to block his Thoughtful Fist one-handed. He could also believe that Dream Master was fast enough to avoid his Mountain Splitting Leg.

But to ignore the sealing effects of the Square Round Lock and ignore his Brilliant Thunder like it was nothing? That was borderline impossible.

Something’s wrong.

Realization struck Defeated like a thunderbolt. There were only two ways his opponent could nullify his Square Round Lock and Brilliant Thunder like they were nothing. Either Dream Master was hopelessly strong, or everything he had experienced thus far… was fake.

Defeated had no doubt his opponent was strong, but to be so strong that he couldn’t leave even a scratch on his person? That was impossible.

Therefore, everything he was experiencing up to this point must be fake. An illusion.

“Demon Eye of Taint—open!”

Pressing his index and middle fingers together, Defeated immediately sliced open his own forehead to reveal a bloody, disturbing-looking eyeball. The eyeball was covered in red nubs, and there were tiny mouths on the red nubs spouting some sort of noise that should never be said; unholy words that could corrupt one’s soul just by listening to them.

The voices were occasionally loud or soft, slow or fast, weeping or laughing. Heaven and earth shook when the words mingled together to form filthy, grayish black taint. Cracks began to spread all over the world, and space itself became distorted. Everything was slowly breaking into a million pieces like glass.

“Begone!”

Defeated let out a yell, and the disturbing words suddenly tripled in volume and intensity. It sounded like a million people whispering insane yet indistinguishable curses at the same time. At that moment, the world was torn asunder, and everything dissolved into nothing like a dream.

When the illusion faded completely, and Defeated opened his eyes, he abruptly discovered that he was still standing at the foot of the hill. He should have scaled the hill, split it in half, locked the surrounding space, and annihilated the small corner of the world with “Dragon Serpent Rise”, and yet he hadn’t. It was as if everything that happened just now was a dream.

He also noticed that countless colorful butterflies were flying around him. Strangely, they grew increasingly transparent after he had broken out of the illusion. Eventually, they were all gone.

“The Demon Eye of Taint of the Yellow Spring? No wonder you were able to break out of my dream.”

On the hill, Dream Master stroked his yellow flower and praised Defeated with a smile, “You definitely deserve the seventh spot on the Human Champions Ranking.”

“You’re pretty good yourself.”

Fighting spirit burned brightly in Defeated’s stoic eyes. At this point, he realized that he was trapped in Dream Master’s dream the moment he arrived at the foot of the hill. Since Dream Master had full control of the dream, of course he was able to ignore the Square Circle Lock and Brilliant Thunder like nothing, and why he was so hopelessly strong and invincible inside his dream.

If he hadn’t realized the incongruity, if he hadn’t unleashed the Demon Eye of Taint—a power that was specifically used to pierce mental illusions and pollute the mind and soul—he would have lost the battle for sure. He might even die as a result.

He had good reason to believe that dying inside the dream would result in irreparable, possibly fatal damage to his mind and soul as well.

He must admit that Dream Master’s power was as anomalous as it was terrifying. However, the danger only excited him even more. Why duel people who were stronger than him if not to face death in the face and continuously break through his limits?

Defeated lifted his palm like a saber and took a step forward. Unfortunately, before he could do anything else, a mad laugh and a rapid series of thumps broke out from the horizon.

When Defeated looked, he saw a big man running toward him from a distance. He was carrying a human head in one hand. The rapid thumps that sounded like gong strikes were really just his footsteps.

The big man’s laughter hit him even before he arrived, “Hahaha! Did you realize that our prey wouldn’t be a challenge and purposely left an extra for us, Dream Master? How kind of you!”

He was none other than Slaughterer.

Slaughterer ran about fifty meters before bending his knees and jumping into the sky with a loud bang. Such was his leap that the ground he was standing on had formed a shallow pit. His aim was perfect, and he fell toward Defeated like a meteor.

“Here I come! Try not to die too quickly!”

Defeated’s eyes turned a little colder. He did not recognize Slaughterer, but he did recognize the human head in his hand. It was Amorous Mother’s head.

It was clear that the big man was an ally of Dream Master. The fact that he killed Amorous Mother was proof of his strength.

Defeated bent his knees about half an inch and gently touched a right finger against the ground. When Slaughterer was less than ten meters away from him, he raised his palm and pushed upward.

Whoosh!

A dazzling purple saber beam boasting indomitable power shot into the air. There was a loud explosion, and Slaughterer was thrown right back where he came from without any resistance.

That wasn’t the end of it, however. Defeated looked down after he sent Slaughterer flying. Green flames were burning all around his feet, and it was filled with inauspiciousness and calamity.

At the same time, a beautiful woman descended from the sky like a goddess. Colorful ribbons danced around her as she waved her hand and summoned what looked like a golden rain on top of Defeated.

Expression unchanged, Defeated raised his right leg about three inches. His foot was stretched straight and pointed toward the ground.

The next moment, Defeated sucked in a deep breath and plunged his foot diagonally into the ground like it was a spear. The solid earth was penetrated like it was tofu all the way up to his knee.

The ground shook, and the green flames burning on its surface flickered unsteadily. The next moment, Defeated let out a battle cry, crouched down, and raised his right leg.

The chunk of earth in front of him—all sixty meters of it—was lifted into the air as well.

What do you think would emerge victorious, your golden rain or my slab of earth?

The two objects clashed, and a series of deafening explosions ensued. Earth scattered everywhere, and everything was covered in dust for a time.

In the sky, Dancer let out a muffled groan as a trickle of blood slid down her mouth

The world was still dim and dusty when Defeated’s voice rang beside Dream Master’s ear.

“Looks like we can’t finish this duel. I’ll find you another day.”

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