Fang Henshui looked around. The pedestrians on the official road had retreated a hundred meters, but the crowd was growing larger and larger. Although no one knew what was happening, it was human nature to watch. When they saw Fang Jie take a long knife from a long wooden box, they immediately burst into cheers.
The onlookers were actually very excited, some even whistling. Several young men couldn't help but shout at the top of their lungs, "If you're going to fight, then fight! Stop dawdling!" This drew laughter from the crowd. Although they dared not approach, they didn't want to miss a match. Little did they know that the two people they surrounded were not competing at all;
they were fighting to the death.
Fang Henshui scoffed as he saw Fang Jie draw his longsword, "You're nothing but a useless cripple who can't cultivate. So what if you have a divine weapon that can cut through iron like mud? You can't even get close to me, so you have no chance of winning."
Fang Jie ignored him, planting his Morning Dew Blade in the ground. He then removed his blood-stained, sapphire-blue robe, revealing a tight-fitting outfit underneath. His trousers and cuffs were neatly tied. He took a deep breath and gripped his longsword again. At this moment, his eyes were exceptionally clear.
Fang Henshui seemed to completely disregard Fang Jie, letting him prepare himself.
"Ready to die?"
He asked Fang Jie.
However, he found that the other party had no intention of paying him any attention. A flash of anger crossed Fang Henshui's eyes, a testament to his strong sense of pride. He took a few steps forward and stretched out his hand to Fang Jie, saying, "Then die!"
An invisible force burst forth from his fingertips, identical to Chen Ya's Flower-Picking Finger technique. Fang Jie had fought Chen Ya before and knew that the Flower-Picking Finger, seemingly peaceful, was actually extremely fierce. Compared to Xie Fuyao's Four Symbols Finger, it had fewer variations but was more direct.
He leaned forward slightly, paused for a second, and then suddenly raised the Morning Dew Blade to his forehead.
With a crisp clang, Fang Jie's hand holding the Morning Dew Blade trembled slightly. But he had precisely blocked Fang Henshui's Flower-Picking Finger, and Fang Henshui's finger force had not caused the slightest damage to the Morning Dew Blade. Fang Henshui frowned slightly, a hint of surprise in his eyes.
His finger force was not swift, making it even more unpredictable. Someone who cannot cultivate could never accurately block finger force, because someone who cannot cultivate simply cannot sense where the finger force is. For a fleeting moment, he wondered if Fang Jie could cultivate.
But he quickly dismissed the thought.
It was merely a judgment!
He knew Fang Jie was from the border army, possessing rich combat experience. Such a person knew the fastest and most direct methods of killing, so he could certainly predict the enemy's attack location. The throat, heart, and forehead were the sites of a fatal blow. And without a doubt, striking through the skull was more effective than striking anywhere else.
Fang Henshui saw Fang Jie crouch and charge forward, his finger energy erupting from his fingertips once more. This time, there were five bursts of energy, three in front and two behind. The first three were quite sharp, producing a slight tearing sound in the air. The latter two, however, were elusive, completely silent. The first three were a cover and a probe, while the two silent ones were the killing blows.
However, what happened next left Fang Henshui speechless. Fang Jie, charging forward, swung his blade five times, each time precisely blocking the finger strikes. His precious sword, Morning Dew, was simply too sturdy; the finger strikes couldn't even scratch the blade.
How could this be?
Fang Henshui was shocked. Seeing Fang Jie had reached within five meters of him, he suddenly raised his hands towards Fang Jie, two powerful bursts of internal energy erupting from his palms. These two streams of internal energy, like two giant, winding serpents, intertwined and writhed, lunging towards the charging youth wielding the sword.
Fang Jie, still charging forward, suddenly pushed off with his feet, his body springing up like a cannonball. One of the serpentine streams of internal energy grazed past him, but the other still slammed into him. In mid-air, Fang Jie's figure twisted at an incredible angle, slashing down with his sword. With a clang, the Morning Dew sword actually cleaved the invisible giant serpent in two, and Fang Jie landed steadily on the ground.
At this moment, he was less than three meters away from Fang Henshui.
Fang Henshui's brows furrowed deeper and deeper. He was now certain that Fang Jie's ability to evade his attack was not a simple prediction. It would be impossible to evade an attack so precisely without sensing the energy of heaven and earth; this could only mean that Fang Jie now possessed the ability to cultivate. And the fact that Fang Jie still chose to engage in close combat meant that he could only sense the energy of heaven and earth!
To evade an internal force attack without counterattacking, the ability to sense the energy of heaven and earth, coupled with a powerful body, was sufficient.
This was completely beyond Fang Henshui's expectations.
His hands suddenly shot outwards, unleashing a large net of internal force towards Fang Jie. The net was extremely dense; if it landed on Fang Jie, Fang Henshui was certain Fang Jie would be sliced into countless pieces. The net was enormous, a full three meters long and wide, and the distance between them was now close enough that even if Fang Jie could sense it, he couldn't possibly evade it.
The net would slice through, leaving a pile of fragments on the ground.
Just as the large net was cast towards Fang Jie, a powerful force erupted from his feet. This stemmed from his unparalleled physique, the strength of which was unimaginable.
With a deafening boom, the hard road surface collapsed under Fang Jie's weight. His body sank downwards, thick dust billowing up. Within the fog-like dust, the net of internal energy that Fang Henshui had unleashed was clearly visible!
Fang Jie bent forward, shrinking into the pit he had created. The net grazed the road surface, and in the instant after dodging it, Fang Jie leaped out of the pit, slashing at Fang Henshui's head with a powerful, heavy strike, carrying the force of splitting a mountain.
At this moment, the darkness in Fang Henshui's eyes resurfaced, and his face contorted in a ferocious expression.
Just as he had caught Mo Wanwu's giant fist during their battle, he raised his hands upwards.
With a resounding bang! The internal energy gathered between his hands formed an invisible lotus seat, blocking Fang Jie's Morning Dew Blade. Even with Fang Jie's physique, this strike couldn't be delivered.
As the darkness in Fang Henshui's eyes deepened, the lotus seat between his hands gradually became clearer. If one didn't look closely, it looked as if he was holding a small dark cloud. The Morning Dew Blade, like a pool of clear water, seemed stuck deep within the cloud, unable to escape.
"Discard the blade!"
Fang Henshui shouted coldly, and a powerful surge of internal energy split from the dark cloud, flowing along the Morning Dew Blade towards Fang Jie's arm!
...
...
"Discard the blade!"
With a cold shout, the finger energy of the Flower-Picking Finger technique coiled around the Morning Dew Blade like a venomous snake, rapidly moving towards Fang Jie's arm. The very tip of this finger energy resembled the sharp fangs of a venomous snake.
For a martial artist, being forced to discard one's weapon is a great disgrace.
Therefore, many in the martial arts world have uttered vows like "As long as the sword is there, I am there; if the sword dies, I die." But Fang Jie was never a typical martial artist. After Fang Henshui shouted "Discard the sword!", he actually said "Good!" and then truly released his right hand from the sword.
Just as a hint of surprise flashed in Fang Henshui's eyes, Fang Jie's left hand, with lightning speed, drew the old cripple's broken sword from his lower back. Holding the broken sword, Blood Butcher, in his left hand, he executed a single strike. The distance between the two was already close enough; even if Blood Butcher was short, it could still strike Fang Henshui. But Fang Jie's left-hand strike was impossible to defend against.
With a soft "thud!"
Fang Henshui's front was cleaved open by Fang Jie's sword, a thin line of blood faintly visible.
Fang Henshui cried out in alarm and abruptly retreated. As he retreated, the dark cloud floating in mid-air vanished as if it had lost its support. A few drops of blood fell from the sky.
Before Fang Henshui could even look down to check his injuries after landing, Fang Jie, who had already grabbed the Morning Dew Blade again with his right hand, had already closed in. In terms of lightness skill and agility, Fang Jie was clearly inferior to Fang Henshui. However, his powerful physique was enough to unleash astonishing speed, making any lightness skill unnecessary.
In the instant he moved forward, he created two craters in the official road.
In the blink of an eye, the Morning Dew Blade swept past like the wind, heading straight for Fang Henshui's throat!
Fang Henshui hadn't expected to be forced into such a sorry state, and even injured. He knew Fang Jie's physique was strong, but he didn't think Fang Jie was more difficult to deal with than Mo Wanwu. Mo Wanwu was a professor at the Martial Arts Academy; how could one become a professor without a certain level of cultivation?
Even Mo Wanwu had been easily killed by him; he never thought that facing Fang Jie, who couldn't cultivate, would be difficult.
In that instant of surprise, Fang Jie's Morning Dew Blade was already in front of him. Although he was confident in his own body, he dared not test the sharpness of the Morning Dew Blade. With a flick of his finger, two three-petaled white lotuses swiftly formed, blocking his path. The lotuses appeared abruptly, crystal clear.
The instant the tip of the Morning Dew Blade touched the lotuses, Fang Jie felt as if an extremely strong electric current had surged through the blade and struck his arm. In an instant, flames erupted from his sleeve. The intense twisting force and scorching temperature nearly caused Fang Jie to drop the Morning Dew Blade, and the flames seemed to purposefully climb up his sleeve, burning fiercely!
It was a temperature far exceeding that of ordinary flames, almost unbearable even for Fang Jie's powerful physique. With his current physical strength, ordinary flames wouldn't feel hot even upon contact. But the temperature emanating from the white lotuses seemed to penetrate his very bones through his pores.
If the Morning Dew Blade hadn't been so cold, blocking most of the heat, Fang Jie even suspected that his right arm would have burst into flames.
Without the slightest hesitation, he swung his Morning Dew Blade, flinging the white lotus hanging from its tip. It flew several meters before exploding with a deafening roar. The lotus, seemingly no bigger than a peach blossom, possessed terrifying energy, blasting a three-meter-wide crater into the side of the official road.
After the dust and smoke erupted, gasps of alarm rose from the surrounding crowd!
If Fang Jie had hesitated even a moment longer, and the lotus had exploded on his blade, even if he hadn't died, he would likely have been temporarily rendered defenseless. The moment he saw the lotus, the image of the old monk involuntarily flashed through Fang Jie's mind. And in that instant, he suddenly understood something.
However, the impending crisis left him no time to think about anything else.
One white lotus was flung away, but a second appeared before Fang Jie. This one, no matter what, Fang Jie couldn't dodge!
The crystal-clear white lotus floated silently in mid-air, only half a meter from Fang Jie's face. A flash of black light appeared in Fang Henshui's eyes, which had already turned completely black, and the white lotus immediately changed. The white petals rapidly transformed into pure black, and then this blackness began to grow larger. Undoubtedly, the power of the pure black lotus was far more terrifying than the previous white lotus!
Even with Fang Jie's powerful physique, it was too late to dodge.
The black lotus.
It was about to bloom before Fang Jie.
Fang Henshui, hastily retreating, couldn't help but curl a smug, cold smile onto his lips. His ferocious expression resembled that of a wild beast that had caught its prey. His murky black eyes regained some of their original color, and a proud and relieved gleam gradually spread within them.