Chapter 765: Two-Person Battle, Two-Nation Battle (10)

After the two riders entered the alley, their horses' hooves slowed.

The city lights gradually dimmed, making the moonlight appear even brighter.

Li Mibi chuckled softly: "The Xu fellow was slow to catch on, but he finally realized that it was that woman's intense sword qi that revealed their whereabouts, which is why he let her leave Snow Lotus City first. Within a hundred li, even if the Great Liang Dragon Sparrow sword is sheathed, in my eyes, it still flickers like a firefly ten zhang away, faintly visible. However, this shows that although Jiang Ni of Western Chu is a once-in-a-century sword prodigy, she still lacks some refinement to reach the legendary realm of a co-ruler of the world. Without Jiang Ni by his side to hold the line, that young man has no chance of winning. The key now is whether Heaven will grant him the good fortune to escape again."

They had been playing cat and mouse all along, holding the absolute initiative. Now, with a decisive battle imminent, Xu Fengnian had made a hasty and foolish move, crippling himself. Yet, Tuoba Pusa's expression did not seem relaxed. "It shouldn't be that simple," he said. "Over the years, in one life-and-death struggle after another—with Fifth Mo, Yang Taisui, Han Shengxuan, Wang Xianzhi, Huang Qing, and the Bronze Man Ancestor—we were always in a position of guaranteed victory, but in the end, it was always Xu Fengnian who survived. This cannot be explained by mere luck."

At this point, Tuoba Pusa smiled casually and said, "If you hadn't arrived in time, I, too, would have become another stepping stone for Xu Fengnian. For tonight's battle, perhaps you should remain hidden in the shadows. I've recovered most of my strength and am fully capable of a head-on fight with Xu Fengnian. Whatever hidden trump cards Xu Fengnian and Jiang Ni might have, or if he believes himself cornered and intends to die with me, you will be able to handle it calmly."

Li Mibi pondered briefly, then nodded, without hesitation, his figure vanished from the horseback in a flash. In the eyes of this spymaster, who had for years spun and gathered his web from the center of Northern Mang's intelligence network, had he not intervened in the battle between Xu Fengnian and Tuoba Pusa, in terms of life and death, Xu Fengnian would have won. However, in terms of victory or defeat, Tuoba Pusa had always held a slight advantage. Therefore, Tuoba Pusa held no lingering resentment about his intervention, and his perfect, unblemished state of mind had not fractured. Li Mibi himself was the foremost Finger-Mystical realm master after Han Shengxuan's death in Liyang, and he understood better than anyone the difficulty of mending a broken mirror. Not everyone could recover their peak mental state after a decline like Li Chungang. This was the essence of the saying: "One's qi flow can be completely depleted, causing a delay of a few days. But a mind state must not be damaged in the slightest, or it may take a hundred years to fully recover." Moreover, Xu Fengnian's injuries were far more severe than Tuoba Pusa's; presumably, the speed of his qi replenishment and physical recovery would be much slower than Tuoba Pusa's. After the battle in Snow Lotus City, Li Mibi truly could not find a reason for Xu Fengnian to have won by chance. However, if Xu Fengnian were determined to avoid battle and flee, Li Mibi was still not so arrogant as to believe he could ensure Xu Fengnian's demise. Those who have not entered the first rank, or even the Vajra realm of the first rank, are forever frogs in a well, unable to see the magnificent scenery of the sky outside the well's mouth. Only martial artists who successfully enter the Finger-Mystical realm, perceiving the workings of heaven and earth, are considered "above the well," able to move with the flow, like a fish freely swimming through a vast net. As for the Celestial Phenomenon realm and the even more untrammeled Land Immortals, they could even bargain with Heaven itself. Li Mibi felt some regret because as Northern Mang's shadow chancellor, he had done too many things in his life that, while perhaps aligning with his own desires, certainly went against the "way of the world." He had always been afraid to enter the Celestial Phenomenon realm, fearing that he might then become entangled in his own web, like a silkworm. Li Mibi believed Han Shengxuan had never truly crossed the threshold of the Celestial Phenomenon realm, likely due to this same concern. Li Mibi believed there was a destiny in the unseen, and excessive deceit and darkness would inevitably be rejected by the Heavenly Dao.

Li Mibi mysteriously appeared on the upturned eaves of a tall building. The ridge of the eave beneath his feet was not carved with common auspicious beasts for warding off evil and inviting blessings, like qilin, but rather a lively carp. This likely reflected the unique affinity for water in Central Plains architecture, with buildings often situated by water. A wind chime hung from the eaves, swaying with the breeze, tinkling melodiously and lightly. This spot was only about five hundred paces in a straight line from the small house in the alley. From this vantage point, Li Mibi had an unobstructed view of the situation below. The battle, which would not disturb Snow Lotus City, was about to erupt. Besides focusing on the peak confrontation between two Grandmasters, Li Mibi's peripheral vision constantly tracked the direction of Jiang Ni's sword flight as she departed.

Li Mibi suddenly laughed aloud, overcome with emotion. It was an unprecedented "Great Year" for the martial arts world, with experts numerous as clouds. Even though many of the older generation had died, the younger generation emerged even faster, making it undoubtedly the most flourishing period in a thousand years! Among the fourteen individuals on the martial arts ranking—the Four Grandmasters and Ten Top Experts—every single one was a Grand Celestial Phenomenon master, or even a Land Immortal. Not to mention Jiang Ni, who could wield her sword for a thousand li, even someone like Xuanyuan Qingfeng, who was a genuine Celestial Phenomenon realm expert, would have undoubtedly ranked among the top ten masters in the martial arts world of old, possibly even at the very top. But unfortunately, they were born into this era. If one were to add reclusive masters like the white-robed monk Qi Dangxin, who were like hidden dragons and lurking leviathans, Xuanyuan Qingfeng might not even have a place among the top twenty. Besides these prominent and well-known Grandmasters, there was also the "world's most beautiful woman," who, like the demon Luoyang, roamed Northern Mang with impunity; the unfathomable young Wudang Sect Master Li Yufu; Jiang Fuding, who stood on the walls of East Sea Wudi City, battling the tides; Zhao Ningshen, the third-generation ancestral lineage of Longhu Mountain, who descended from the Heavenly Master's Mansion; Qi Xianxia, who traveled among the common folk; Wu Liuding, the Sword Tomb's Sword Crown, and his sword-servant woman; and even Xu Fengnian's three disciples, who were gradually making a name for themselves.

If any two masters in the world were chosen to fight, the battle before Li Mibi — between Northern Mang's God of War and the King of Northern Liang — could perhaps only be rivaled by the peak confrontation between the Confucian Sage Cao Changqing and the Sword Immortal Deng Tai'a.

For some unknown reason, Li Mibi bent down and sat cross-legged, no longer paying attention to the activity in the alley. He closed his eyes as a gentle breeze caressed his face. The old man, whose hair was like frosted snow, pulled a dry biscuit from his pocket and slowly, leisurely chewed it, listening to the tinkling wind chime nearby. He gently swayed his head, seemingly enjoying himself. After finishing the biscuit, he wiped his mouth, then slowly stood up, gazed at the moonlit, star-scattered night sky, and laughed heartily: "Oh, what a world, what a sight! How grand and perilous!"

In the alley far below.

A swift, powerful saber strike greeted Tuoba Pusa.

Thunder erupted in silence, and moonlight ascended from flat ground.

Tuoba Pusa leaped high off his horse. Almost simultaneously, Xu Fengnian, with a single strike, split the tall horse trotting in the alley into two. After passing through the horse's corpse, he lightly tapped his toe on the wall and, facing Tuoba Pusa, who was more than ten zhang above the ground, unleashed another upward saber strike. It was unclear whether it was saber light or moonlight, but the sky above the quiet alley was a vast expanse of white. Tuoba Pusa clenched his fists, adopting a pounding stance, and hammered down towards the bright saber light and clear blade. The old-style Northern Liang saber, held by Xu Fengnian with both hands, did not directly resist this hammer blow. Instead, he and his saber spun in a large circle, instantly swapping positions. Xu Fengnian, now at a higher position behind Tuoba Pusa, slashed downward towards his back.

Tuoba Pusa's qi flowed downward, and his descent was much faster than the saber light. As his feet touched the ground, the Northern Courtyard King, still in a squatting posture, struck the ground with his now-separated fists, one after the other. He then spun his body, and just as the saber's momentum weakened slightly, he charged forward, his back to the ground, and delivered a whip-like kick at Xu Fengnian, whose move was spent but who was unwilling to withdraw his saber and initiate a new stance. Xu Fengnian released one hand from his grip, pressed it against the back of the blade, and gave a slight twist, turning the blade sideways. It collided with Tuoba Pusa's whip kick, immediately producing a metallic clang, like the prolonged ringing of a massive bell.

Xu Fengnian and Tuoba Pusa simultaneously fell to the ground like two streaking meteors, one landing at the entrance of the alley and the other at its end.

Both charged forward at the same time.

As Xu Fengnian ran, he showed no signs of weariness. He was high-spirited and radiant, completely unlike the exhaustion of a spent force he had displayed when Jiang Ni was by his side, making it even harder to believe he would stumble while walking or need to lean on a wall.

When the two were ten paces apart, Xu Fengnian twisted his body, his saber moving with him, adding ample momentum to his diagonal slash in an instant. Even Tuoba Pusa did not meet this sharpness head-on; he kept moving, his back against the wall, and as he brushed past Xu Fengnian, he thrust a palm towards Xu Fengnian's temple. Xu Fengnian lowered his head, bent at the waist, spun in place, and delivered a horizontal slash at waist level. Tuoba Pusa, whose punch missed, did not engage further but continued to charge forward, still not directly countering that saber strike. Xu Fengnian pursued from behind, lightly increasing the force in his left foot, charging diagonally into one wall, then stepping onto the alley wall with one foot, and in the next instant, his body crashed into the opposite wall. He repeated this, shadowing and rushing forward. He and Tuoba Pusa, one high and one low, engaged in a silent battle in this unknown alley.

From the moment they clashed upon landing, Xu Fengnian's two saber strikes left no marks on the alley floor or walls, nor did Tuoba Pusa's punch leave a hole in the wall, not even a finger-sized indentation.

The situation remained strangely subdued and peculiar. In the narrow alley, barely wide enough for two riders abreast, Xu Fengnian, though moving with his saber, unleashed no visible saber light; only occasionally would moonlight reflect off his Northern Liang Saber, creating a faint white gleam. Tuoba Pusa, clearly capable of unleashing world-shattering power, attacked less and defended more. Yet, Xu Fengnian also lacked the desperate, all-or-nothing ferocity he usually displayed in life-and-death battles. Apart from their incredibly swift attacks and even swifter retreats, like lightning and thunder, there were no remarkable flourishes. Such an extremely subtle fight was almost less impressive than a skirmish between two minor second-rank Grandmasters renowned in their prefectures. Two Grandmasters, entitled to disregard formalities even before the rulers of heaven and earth, behaved with utmost politeness in this alley, their movements restrained and precise, never overstepping their bounds by an inch, like gentlemen engaged in refined conversation.

There was no majestic power capable of toppling mountains, no unrestrained, sweeping attacks, only restrained, precise strikes. It was more like a woman's embroidery, a struggle over a single thread.

Yet, if successful, the world might lose a Grandmaster.

The two, with a tacit understanding, drew a line around themselves, making it their prison.

The alley was their cage.

A cage match.

Both sides sought only to prick the mirror of the other's state of mind.

Among the current Four Grandmasters of the world, besides these two currently fighting, the Confucian Sage Cao Changqing had chosen to enter the Way of Hegemony through the Way of Kings, which was clearly a path to self-destruction. Of the four chairs at the pinnacle of martial arts, Cao Changqing had effectively stood up and left his seat. That left only Deng Tai'a, the paramount master of the Sword Dao. Whoever emerged victorious tonight would not simply determine the outcome of their individual fight, life or death, but would largely seize and absorb the other's realm, undoubtedly gaining an advantage when facing Deng Tai'a in the future. Thus, it could be said that tonight's battle would almost decide who would be the undisputed greatest in the world.

At this moment, both men turned their heads sideways. Tuoba Pusa's fist seemed to rest on Xu Fengnian's left shoulder, while Xu Fengnian's Northern Liang Saber seemed to be lifted by Tuoba Pusa's shoulder. Not a single strand of hair at Xu Fengnian's temples stirred. The tip of his Northern Liang Saber, which appeared to be pressed against the wall, had in fact not penetrated it in the slightest.

The next moment, Tuoba Pusa delivered a knee strike to Xu Fengnian's abdomen, and Xu Fengnian, in turn, punched Tuoba Pusa in the chest. Both crashed backward, their feet sliding across the bluestone ground. Tuoba Pusa pressed his right hand downwards, stopping his backward momentum just as his back was about to hit the wall. Xu Fengnian, with a flick of his saber-holding wrist, did the same, avoiding contact with the wall. Tuoba Pusa swung a hand, striking Xu Fengnian on the side.

Xu Fengnian simultaneously slapped Tuoba Pusa on the side of his face with his saber.

After both stumbled backward, they each found their footing. Xu Fengnian twitched the corner of his mouth, while Tuoba Pusa remained expressionless, though the mark from the saber's slap was clearly visible on his face.

Li Mibi wanted him dead.

Tuoba Pusa wanted him to lose first, then die.

Just as the girl had instinctively guessed, Xu Fengnian was deceiving them. The intelligence received from Liunian Feng at that time was by no means the good news that Xu Yanbing would arrive soon. Instead, the Northern Liang Fushui Manor had already confirmed that Chen Zhibao and Xie Guanying had quietly appeared among the Qingzhou Navy, even before the imperial decree allowing ten thousand Shu soldiers to leave the borders to quell the rebellion had entered Western Shu territory. This was intelligence secretly relayed by Shuxiu, who was accompanying Prince Jing'an, Zhao Xun. This meant Chen Zhibao could directly influence the Guangling River conflict before he even overtly led the Shu soldiers into battle. At such a time, the presence or absence of Jiang Ni, with her powerful qi, in the army would drastically alter the fate of the entire Western Chu nation.

Aside from the initial period of his escape when he was regaining consciousness, Xu Fengnian had been deceiving her. With the Buddhist bowl given by the Chicken Soup Monk, which absorbed qi, Xu Fengnian's recovery speed was not only faster than Tuoba Pusa's, whose injuries were less severe, but actually quicker. Without this secret report, Xu Fengnian would have continued his deception, feigning near-death, pretending to need her to carry him through their arduous escape, enduring hardships together, and feigning that without her, he couldn't survive even a moment against Tuoba Pusa and Li Mibi's pursuit. And that little "mud doll," who was never truly clever, was indeed kept in the dark, never questioning why they always narrowly escaped ambushes, why he could always perfectly discern Li Mibi's killing moves and offer timely pointers, and how his post-battle critiques, in just a few words, could make her sword skills advance by leaps and bounds.

He had originally intended to have a straightforward fight with Tuoba Pusa in Snow Lotus City, not only for her to benefit from observing the battle but also to fulfill a wish from his youth: to prove something to her.

"What? You think I only know how to bully you? How could that be! If I truly wanted to practice martial arts, let alone the Ten Top Experts, even being the world's number one, a title Wang Xianzhi dared not claim for himself, would be as easy as reaching into a pouch."

Then, when they parted ways outside the city, he could brazenly hand her the snow lotus and declare, "This is a gift from the world's top master."

On the distant tall building, Li Mibi's mood, initially relaxed, gradually became solemn.

He glanced at the sky; dawn was approaching.

For three whole hours, the two in the alley had still not determined a victor!

It wasn't that Li Mibi didn't want to intervene or take advantage of the situation; even if it angered the Northern Courtyard King, Li Mibi wouldn't care about Tuoba Pusa's opinion as long as he could kill Xu Fengnian. However, several times Li Mibi left the tall building to approach the alley, yet he couldn't find a single opening. After repeatedly returning empty-handed, Li Mibi could only patiently stand on the rooftop, occasionally gazing tens of li outside the city in a certain direction, growing even more anxious. That wisp of sword qi, which he could initially detect within three hundred li, had, after half a month, only been detectable within two hundred li. Before reaching Snow Lotus City, it was only a hundred li. Now, it was barely fifty li and had become indistinct.

It seemed that soon, a female Sword Immortal would truly appear in the world.

Li Mibi continued to wait.

He waited until dawn faintly broke, and the world gradually turned pale blue and white.

Li Mibi sighed with a hint of regret, then leaped down from the building, landing at the end of the alley.

Xu Fengnian and Tuoba Pusa had just distanced themselves again. Xu Fengnian knelt on one knee, his Northern Liang Saber carving a long furrow in the ground before him. Tuoba Pusa was also not in good shape; he sat on the ground, uncharacteristically gasping for air.

Li Mibi stood not far from Tuoba Pusa, silent.

Tuoba Pusa sighed softly, then stood up and calmly said, "It's meaningless now. Let's go."

Li Mibi nodded. If they continued to waste time, by the time Xu Yanbing arrived, they would be trapped like turtles in a jar.

Before turning away, Tuoba Pusa looked at the young man who had also stood up, and smiled: "Even if all of Northern Liang's iron cavalry were to perish, and no matter how desperate your situation becomes, as long as you, Xu Fengnian, ask, I will fight you one-on-one!"

Xu Fengnian stood, saber in hand, remaining silent.

As Tuoba Pusa and Li Mibi departed the city and headed north, a streak of purple light also vanished eastward outside the city moments later.

After the great battle, the Northern Liang Saber in Xu Fengnian's hand, unable to bear the strain, broke into two. He bent down, picked up the broken piece, and was the first to put it into his sheath.

After traveling straight north from Snow Lotus City for over thirty li, the two turned west. Li Mibi finally spoke, shaking his head with a chuckle: "This King of Northern Liang, so young, yet so cunning."

Tuoba Pusa suddenly asked, "Sir, do you know why I didn't fight him to the death last night, but instead only engaged in a battle of mind states?"

Li Mibi thought for a moment, still unable to comprehend, or perhaps unwilling to believe the truth.

Tuoba Pusa chuckled: "Converting destiny into strength unrelated to one's realm, Xu Fengnian, possessing a treasure mountain, could squander it at any time. Yet, he still showed great restraint, only ensuring his survival. His initial saber strike in the alley was meant to convey this fact to me, telling us not to push him too far. If it had been a mere struggle for life, a contest of qi consumption, Xu Fengnian not only wouldn't have lost, but one of us might have been left behind. He probably just wanted to preserve more of his reserves for his precarious Northern Liang."

Li Mibi sighed in admiration: "Destiny, the destiny of Northern Liang."

Tuoba Pusa stated gravely, "I won't go to Liangzhou first. I'll return to the Southern Dynasty with you, sir, to warn His Majesty and the Grand Councillor."

Li Mibi suddenly scoffed with irritation: "They always say my Northern Mang martial arts world isn't a 'true' martial arts world, yet Xu Fengnian, as Liyang's foremost Grandmaster, can't even have a straightforward fight. When has he ever acted with such flair?! Cao Changqing, Gu Jiantang, and the others are the same. Only Deng Tai'a truly lives up to his reputation."

Tuoba Pusa's expression remained unchanged. He reached up to wipe away the blood trickling from his nose, and said calmly, "Pitiable people have their hateful aspects, and ridiculous people have their respectable aspects. That's why I wish Xu Fengnian to die by my hand, not under the hooves of a chaotic army like the Sword Emperor of Western Shu."

In Snow Lotus City, a young man with a saber at his waist stood in front of a small shop selling meat pastries, looking dejected.

The shopkeeper waited for a long time but saw no sign of the fellow pulling out his money pouch. He rolled his eyes, and after a while, he stopped bothering with this penniless wretch. "What, am I not a grown man? I'm not some lovesick young girl or a ravenous woman. Do you think just because you look presentable, you can eat for free? A saber at your waist makes you a martial hero? Who are you trying to scare?!" But it wasn't long before his wife and daughter arrived to help in the shop, stealing glances at the young man, looking both eager to speak and even more shy, which gave the meat pastry vendor a headache and a toothache. He was about to give the man the smallest meat pastry just to get rid of him, but his shameless, spendthrift wife had already pre-emptively given their daughter two of the largest lamb meat pastries, full of diced lamb. She then gave a look, and her daughter, without shame, swayed her hips and stood before the young rascal, timidly offering the meat pastries and smilingly saying she wouldn't charge him. The man angrily turned his head, out of sight, out of mind. "Damn it, I was much more handsome than you when I was young!" Just as the young man, with a bright smile, reached out to take the pastries, an indignant voice beside him snapped, "Have you no shame?!"

Then she glared at the shop girl. "How much?"

The girl, startled, replied, "One lamb pastry is six coins, two are five coins."

She turned her back to the young man and carefully took out about seven or eight Xiangfu coins from an embroidered purse. Most were one-coin denominations, with two two-coin pieces, and not many larger coins. The coins issued during the Xiangfu era were considered new money and had no relation to the collectible "famous coins" of previous dynasties. She mumbled to herself, finally unable to part with five one-coin pieces, and also unwilling to take out the ten-coin piece, because she only had two of those in her purse, a matched pair, and it felt wrong to separate them. Finally, with a frown, she handed the girl one one-coin piece and two two-coin pieces, exactly five coins, to buy two lamb pastries. The conflicted expression on her face, as if she were watching her own daughter get married, made the shop girl and woman not know whether to laugh or cry. It was only five coins; was it really so hard to give them up?

The young man stopped her, gently chuckling, "Alright, alright, you don't need to pay. Put it away."

The young lord with the saber turned his head, looked into the distance, and waved. Soon, a burly man with a respectful demeanor hurried over. The young man asked, "Do you have any silver on you?"

That man, considered one of Snow Lotus City's few top-tier masters, still nodded nervously in front of him, pulling out all the silver he had, adopting a respectful posture as if he wished to offer his very life.

The young man only took a small piece of broken silver, handed it to the girl, took the meat pastry, and smiled, "Keep the change."

The girl, her heart fluttering at his smile, said sweetly, "Thank you, young master."

Meanwhile, the woman beside him turned her head, put the copper coins back, her lips moving slightly, her face full of disdain. Judging by her mouth shape, she was likely mimicking the words "Thank you, young master."

The young man smiled, handed her a freshly baked, fragrant meat pastry, and then said, "I won't see you off. Remember not to fly out of the city on your sword; it's quite startling in broad daylight."

The young woman, carrying the purple scabbard on her back and holding the meat pastry, turned directly and walked towards the city gate.

He waited until her figure slowly disappeared from his sight before turning and walking in the opposite direction.

The burly man, a Fushui Manor dead soldier serving as Madam Song's personal guard in Snow Lotus Tower, remained deferential, not daring to look at them more than once.

He lowered his head and bit into the meat pastry.

The meat pastry was covered in crimson blood.

High above, amidst clouds as lofty as the ninth heaven, bathed in glorious multi-hued light, a woman with fluttering robes stood upon the Great Liang Dragon Sparrow, riding the wind.

Bathed entirely in golden-yellow light, she held a copper coin between two fingers, lifted it above her head, and gazed at it in a daze.

He had deceived her, and she knew it.

Suddenly, she felt a pang of annoyance. Abruptly, she made her sword ascend by hundreds or even thousands of zhang, then indignantly declared, "I should have gotten some change back!"