Chapter 899: Full Courtyard of Lotuses

Activate membership.Go to page [0], confirm.

Common Pursuit of PowerAuthor: [Author Name] Updated: January 3, 2016, 21:00:02 Word Count: 3132

Thirty minutes later, thousands of soldiers and officers inside Huaiyang Pass indeed withdrew completely, a testament to the Northern Liang border army's remarkable orderliness and Chen Zhibao's keen insight into military matters.

As Bai Hu'er Lian followed Chu Lushan out of the city, he suddenly reined in his horse, drew the Embroidered Winter and Spring Thunder twin blades from his waist, and flung them high into the city.

In that small courtyard, Xu Fengnian descended the steps. Chen Zhibao slowly emerged from the room where the coffin lay, standing on the steps. The tip of his Plum Wine spear instantly changed from green to purple.

Facing Xu Fengnian, a martial arts grandmaster almost unrivalled in his independent martial path, Chen Zhibao showed not the slightest hint of underestimation, even though he was heavily wounded and, despite his current arrogance and defiance due to wielding Western Shu's providence.

Chen Zhibao casually thrust his spear straight forward. For some reason, it lacked the majestic, world-devouring momentum one might expect. The Plum Wine spear, shimmering with purple energy, pierced through Xu Fengnian's chest as he slightly turned. Chen Zhibao's wrist subtly flicked, and the rigidly straight spear instantly curved like a bow, springing towards Xu Fengnian's chest. This was the 'Arc' technique, one of the Four-Character Secrets of the Spear Immortal Wang Xiu. Xu Fengnian gently pushed the apex of the spear's arc with one hand. Instead of being pushed away, the Plum Wine spear instantly unleashed a shattering force, like a bolt of heavenly lightning striking the earth. Xu Fengnian changed his open palm to a bent finger gesture, slowly retreating with a leisurely gait, pointing and tapping, one by one neutralizing the hidden energies of the 'Collapse Spear' — one of Wang Xiu's renowned ultimate techniques.

Suddenly, Xu Fengnian's body seemed to be struck by a heavy hammer, sliding backward without lifting his feet from the ground. He finally stopped just as he was about to hit the high wall of the small courtyard, his back collar perhaps only a hair's breadth from the wall.

Xu Fengnian swallowed a mouthful of fresh blood, gently waved his sleeves, and forcefully suppressed the chaotic qi surging within him like a tide. Having suffered a considerable setback, Xu Fengnian softly exhaled. He looked at the white-robed King of Shu, who had not pursued him after the strike. It was strange; his instantaneous qi flow was not particularly impressive at that moment, only reaching five to six hundred li. This was far from the seven to eight hundred li effortlessly achieved by figures like Cao Changqing and Deng Tai'a, let alone Li Chungang, who, in the battle at Guangling River before his death, shattered two thousand six hundred sets of armor with a single sword, crossing the thousand-li distance hailed by Lu Zu as the threshold of heaven and man. In terms of qi flow speed alone, Chen Zhibao was probably inferior to the now-flourishing Xuanyuan Qingfeng in the Central Plains martial arts world.

From ancient times, the way of the sword has been a struggle between spirit and technique, and so too is martial arts across the land. However, no one can deny the importance of sustained qi flow; it is almost the very foundation of a martial artist's existence.

Yet, even though Chen Zhibao's qi circulation did not appear extraordinary, he could still integrate Wang Xiu's Four-Character Secrets within a single spear thrust, seemingly exerting only three or four tenths of his power while achieving a full ten tenths of elegant mastery.

Chen Zhibao, having gained the advantage in a single move, calmly stated: "This spear thrust is for the three hundred thousand Iron Cavalry of Northern Liang. Those Northern Liang border troops whose names are etched on stone tablets should not have died so unjustly."

Xu Fengnian did not engage in any verbal dispute with Chen Zhibao, slowly gathering his momentum.

Xu Fengnian had already experienced Chen Zhibao's Plum Wine spear in the previous battle at Guangling River. Furthermore, Wang Xiu, the Spring and Autumn Grandmaster who had fully imparted his spear techniques to Chen Zhibao, was originally from Northern Liang. With Xu Yanbing and Han Laosan, his two junior martial brothers, serving the Xu family for years, Xu Fengnian should, by rights, have had an advantage. He himself had a thorough mastery of the world's diverse martial arts, and while not necessarily at the pinnacle of Wang Xiu's spear techniques, he should have understood their formidable essence intimately. Yet, when truly facing Chen Zhibao's elusive Plum Wine spear, he always felt an inexplicable lack of power, as if his will was willing but his flesh was weak. Even though Xu Fengnian was clearly superior in cultivation, he found it difficult to exert his full strength when actually fighting. It's worth noting that when facing Wang Xianzhi, who was then said to single-handedly suppress nine martial grandmasters, Xu Fengnian could even exert more than his full strength, and in his thousand-li battle across the Western Regions with Tuoba Bodhisattva, he fought with exhilarating full force from start to finish.

Now, after being severely wounded by Tuoba Bodhisattva, Xu Fengnian found it even more challenging to contend with the Plum Wine spear.

However, no matter how perilous the situation, Xu Fengnian harbored no resentment or complaints against fate, nor did he feel indignation at Chen Zhibao taking advantage of the situation.

This mirrored Northern Liang's current difficult predicament: since the general trend of the world was thus, to survive, one could not dwell on whether the methods of the Northern Mang army or the Liyang court were less than honorable. In fact, Northern Liang had no say in the matter.

As the old saying goes: 'Do your best and leave the rest to fate.' Xu Fengnian always firmly believed that whether one listened to fate, or whether fate was good or bad, was a secondary matter. What he had to do was to exert his utmost effort, and as long as he felt he hadn't done all he could, he would never give up.

At this moment, the long and short twin blades, Embroidered Winter and Spring Thunder, fell from outside Huaiyang Pass into the small courtyard within the city. Xu Fengnian remained impassive, letting the blades stick into the courtyard ground. Chen Zhibao also did not prevent the famed blades from falling, merely letting his spear tip tremble slightly, its purple energy faintly swaying.

It wasn't that Xu Fengnian didn't want to receive the Embroidered Winter and Spring Thunder; he couldn't.

Chen Zhibao struck again, sweeping to a spot about one spear's length from Xu Fengnian, who stood by the corner of the wall.

But the next moment, Xu Fengnian appeared to be motionless, yet Chen Zhibao's swift spear thrust landed several steps to Xu Fengnian's left. The Plum Wine spear gently touched the wall, stopping just short of its target.

A horizontal tear appeared on Xu Fengnian's chest garment, and blood began to seep through.

Xu Fengnian frowned. Chen Zhibao's spear thrust was fast, initially a straight thrust. However, it wasn't so fast that Xu Fengnian couldn't evade it, so Xu Fengnian had stepped three paces sideways. Yet, the Plum Wine spear tip instantly appeared at his heart.

Consequently, when Xu Fengnian returned to his original position, his garment was still scraped open by the non-sharp spearhead.

Chen Zhibao slowly retracted his Plum Wine spear.

The quiet courtyard's gate was not closed, and a gentle breeze swept through.

In a corner of the small courtyard stood a jujube tree, laden with fruit. Green and red jujubes hung in clusters from its branches.

Whenever the autumn winds first arrived in the Northwest, almost every household in Northern Liang would pick and eat jujubes. Even frail children could easily shake them down. According to custom, some newlywed women who had not yet borne children would stand beneath the jujube tree, while younger children from the family selected slender branches and shook them vigorously, allowing the bright red jujubes to fall onto their heads, symbolizing an early birth of a noble son.

From that unassuming jujube tree, a single jujube silently detached from its branch, tumbling past lower branches and other fruits, before falling towards the ground.

Xu Fengnian made an inconceivable move: he slid his hands into his sleeves, adopting a posture as if resigned to fate. His face slightly pale, he looked at Chen Zhibao.

The jujube, even more inconspicuous than the tree itself, gently landed on the ground, then burst open with a bang.

The Plum Wine spear in Chen Zhibao's hand was as if struck by an invisible flying sword.

Thunder striking the earth, echoing in the heavens.

This was the true essence of Gu Jiantang's ultimate hidden technique, the 'Inch Thunder'.

However, the mastery of wielding qi to manifest flying swords from all things, a realm where the sword goes where the heart wills, originated from the foundational sword principles of the Wu Family Sword Tomb.

As the first jujube detached and landed, suddenly jujubes rained down, each rapidly hitting the ground. Some burst open with a dull thud, others landed silently.

Circles of ripples, varying in height, undulated around Chen Zhibao, like countless small pebbles striking a calm lake surface. That mystical scene was as if an immortal hand had conjured lotus flowers out of thin air on a pristine white scroll.

Chen Zhibao closed his eyes and tightened his grip on the Plum Wine spear. Even when a ripple undulated merely three feet above his head, he did not dodge, much less thrust a spear to break the stalemate.

A ripple subtly spread in the air, barely an inch above his shoulder.

Chen Zhibao was waiting, patiently anticipating Xu Fengnian's trump card, the moment Xu Fengnian harbored murderous intent. As for those seemingly profound ripples, they were merely harmless illusions.

To Chen Zhibao and his Plum Wine spear, no preemptive strike in the world was without flaws. He was confident that his counter-attack strategy could break even the techniques of Deng Tai'a, renowned as peerless in destructive power. Therefore, in any life-or-death battle, he considered himself invincible, let alone against this young vassal king whose celestial physique was already at its limit.

Some ripples formed 'casually' far from Chen Zhibao.

When all the jujubes had fallen from the tree, Xu Fengnian's sleeves stirred slightly. One by one, small, exquisite flying swords silently hovered before him.

Concurrently, the ripples that had seemingly vanished around Chen Zhibao reappeared.

Large and small, high and low.

From each ripple, a swaying, elegant white lotus bloomed.

The small courtyard seemed to be filled with blooming lotus flowers, accompanied by a faint, crisp, and pleasant chiming sound.

This was the Thunder Pond of Liu Haoshi, the gatekeeper of Taian City, and the Grand Yellow Court of Wang Chonglou, the old patriarch of Wudang.

Thunder Pond filled with lotuses.

In moments of desperation, vitality thrived.

This is the latest chapter. Enjoy the novel? Want to support the author? Show your support by casting a monthly vote!

*Monthly votes are the sole determining factor, influencing the author's status in the literary world, popularity, and income.

Support generously, and you might trigger special Tieba bonus content!

Below are the monthly votes received for this chapter:1st Floor: [Applause/spam text]Collapse repliesFrom 2nd Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 3rd Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 4th Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 5th Floor: T-beans are no problem; get a limited edition 'naughty kid' for free!Recommended byCollapse repliesFrom 6th Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 7th Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 8th Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 9th Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 10th Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 11th Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 12th Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 13th Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 14th Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 15th Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 16th Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 17th Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 18th Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 19th Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 20th Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 21st Floor: First timeCollapse repliesFrom 22nd Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 23rd Floor: La la laCollapse repliesFrom 24th Floor: I once loved your smiling face. I once loved the kindness of your heart. These years with you have illuminated my loneliness.Collapse repliesFrom 25th Floor: HahahaCollapse repliesFrom 26th Floor: La la laCollapse repliesFrom 27th Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 28th Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 29th Floor:Collapse repliesFrom 30th Floor: Baidu Novel Popularity Rankings. This Month's Popularity Ranking. Last Month's Popularity Ranking. This book's rank: [Rank number].

Go to page [ ], confirm.

Content: Use signature. Save to quick reply.