Free Web NovelChapter 109: Chapter 102: Drawing the Sword Is Enough
"What did you say?"
Anger was stunned by Catastrophe’s words. He had never heard of such a thing, but there was no reason for Catastrophe to lie to him.
"You don’t remember anything at all?"
Anger asked after a moment of contemplation.
"Not entirely."
Catastrophe paused, then said:
"I don’t remember what happened, but when I woke up, I had this subconscious feeling that I’d been beaten to a pulp. Like I was completely toyed with."
"Vice Bishop, I think we need to be more cautious when dealing with that mysterious master."
"His power is unfathomable. Why don’t we ask the other Vice Bishop to join us? It would be safer."
Over the past few days, Anger’s rage over his daughter’s death at the hands of the mysterious master had subsided. Though he was still heartbroken, he could now think calmly.
But Anger just sighed and said:
"How could I not know we need to be safe?"
"It’s just that the other guy is obsessed with studying Martial Artists. He’s holed himself up in some godforsaken place and won’t come out, no matter how I try to contact him. When he heard I wanted his help, he just told me to grab Lu Anning and bring her back for him while I’m at it."
"As for the Bishop and the Archbishop, they’re preparing for the advent of the Spirit Realm. I can’t reach them at all."
"Forget it. It’s better to rely on oneself than on others. I fought that mysterious master a few days ago. I sent him flying back with just two punches!"
"Unless he’s had some massive power-up in the last few days, I can still beat him in two punches. Killing him will be effortless!"
Anger’s voice paused for a moment before he continued:
"Besides, I’ve still got a few ’Blessings’ saved up. There’s no way I can fail."
Catastrophe’s heart had been pounding wildly. Hearing the Vice Bishop’s confident words, his anxiety began to subside. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and let the water run over him. He then asked:
"If that’s the case, when do we make our move?"
"No rush."
Anger sneered. "I need to fully master the sequence from His last blessing first."
"Also, next time we fight, we need to lure the mysterious master to a crowded place. That will be more suitable for my new sequence to show its full potential."
"Understood."
Although Catastrophe didn’t know what the Vice Bishop’s new sequence was, he understood one thing:
You don’t ask about things your superior isn’t willing to share. So, he simply acknowledged the order and ended the call.
Even after hanging up, Catastrophe still felt deeply uneasy.
Despite the Vice Bishop’s assurances, he couldn’t stop recalling that suffocating despair he felt when he first regained consciousness.
He knew just how powerful he was with his four sequences. He couldn’t imagine what kind of brutal treatment he must have endured to feel such despair. This made him somewhat skeptical about the mysterious master’s true strength.
Catastrophe set his phone aside and let out a slow breath. He had a faint premonition. ’This battle will be my last.’
’If I win, I can fulfill my dream, bring the Spirit Realm back to the world, and give my wife and children a better life!’
’If I lose... the Catastrophe High Priest will likely die. To my wife and children, it will be as if I suddenly vanished. They will never know what their husband and father went through, or why he disappeared off the face of the earth.’
He clenched his fists tightly and roared in his heart:
’I have to win this fight!’
...
9:15 AM.
The Sword Hall.
After Su Xing killed Catastrophe, his body was directly absorbed by Su Xing. The pile of mangled flesh on the ground instantly turned into energy and vanished.
This made Su Xing realize that the Catastrophe High Priest wasn’t dead at all. It was likely one of his life-preserving tricks, something Su Xing had encountered more than once.
Sequencers truly had a wide and varied bag of tricks, which made Su Xing sigh in admiration. But beyond that, he didn’t give it much thought.
Because for Su Xing,
no matter how many thousands of tricks they had, all he needed was his sword.
After that, Su Xing gave some instructions to Lu Anning, notified Yu, and then returned directly to the Sword Hall.
He sat on the floor of the training hall, a practice sword laid across his knees. His eyes were fixed ahead, as if waiting for the upcoming Sword Dao class.
A light blue panel that only he could see floated silently before his eyes.
[Sword Saint Class System]
[Absorbing Energy (16%)]
[Sword Dao Points: Calculating]
The familiar yet strange panel floated before Su Xing’s eyes.
Aside from the time the Spiritual Sect attacked the hospital, this was only the second time Su Xing had obtained system-certified energy. He wondered how many Sword Dao Points it would convert into this time.
The Catastrophe High Priest was a mighty fourth-tier Sequencer. The energy harvested from him should be greater than that of those third-tier Sequencers, and the Sword Dao Points should be more numerous as well.
Su Xing slowly exhaled.
He closed the system panel.
Staring at the progress bar’s increase, he felt a persistent itch in his heart, like a worm squirming inside him.
It made him desperately want to fast-forward to when the bar hit one hundred percent to see just how many Sword Dao Points he would get.
But that was obviously impossible. It was better to close the system and think about how to spend those Sword Dao Points.
According to his previous upgrade plan, Su Xing should start raising his third-tier skills to the fourth tier to maximize his combat effectiveness.
So far,
only "Spirit Sword" had reached the fourth tier.
All his other skills were still at the third tier.
To put it nicely, he still had a lot of room for improvement. To put it bluntly, his current strength was still not quite up to par.
According to his original plan,
among his many class skills, Su Xing should prioritize upgrading "White Blade Stance." Like "Spirit Sword," it was direct and comprehensive.
If Su Xing were to put points into other sword techniques,
and then didn’t use that particular technique, the upgrade would be wasted.
But "White Blade Stance" was different.
It could always be active on the edge of his blade, exerting its power no matter what combat style Su Xing was using.
’Mm, I’ll stick to the original plan,’ Su Xing thought, nodding to himself.
Just then, a voice from outside the door called, "Coach Su!" It snapped Su Xing back to the present, making him realize it was time to start his workday.
...
「Northern Cang City, military compound.」
In the center of a quiet courtyard was a wooden table where three people sat. The scorching sun cast their long, drawn-out shadows on the ground.
A man who looked to be in his sixties sat in the host’s seat. The most sumptuous dishes were placed before him, signifying his role as the master of the meal.
However, he hadn’t touched any of it, instead just shoveling plain white rice into his mouth.
A woman sat in the secondary seat.
She looked very young, twenty or thirty at most. Only her slightly old-fashioned style of dress hinted at her true age, which was likely similar to the man’s.
Sitting at the end of the table was a young man of about thirty. He was dressed in a formal suit and looked distinctly uncomfortable.
He was a stark contrast to the relaxed demeanor of the two elders.
This was Li Yu.
His older brother was away on business in the Capital City, leaving no younger generation to accompany their father on his birthday. That was why he had rushed back north to have a meal with his family.
He had to admit, the pressure was immense.
His parents’ endless questions made Li Yu feel, ridiculously, even more stressed than when he was fighting the Spiritual Sect. He was starting to sweat a little.
"Yu."
"Now that us old folks have let go of the reins, how has the organization been doing lately?"
"Everything’s normal, Dad."
"It’s just that a new cult has appeared recently, called the Spiritual Sect. They have an endless stream of masters within their ranks, and they’re extremely difficult to deal with."
"Extremely difficult?"
The woman sitting beside him leaned in. Even though the scorching sun was beating down on her, there wasn’t a single drop of sweat on her forehead. She patted Li Yu’s head and said with a smile:
"Are they as difficult as the ones we faced back when Spiritual Qi first began to recover?"
"Hey, that’s not the right way to put it."
"Every generation has its own difficulties. This Spiritual Sect might not be any easier to deal with than those guys."
"The Xia Country has now officially announced the recovery of Spiritual Qi, so the general public knows about it. The whole environment is different. Yu’s pressure might be even greater than what we faced back then."
"Besides, Li Yu hadn’t even become a Sequencer back then. He’s never even seen those Martial Madmen, so there’s no comparison."
Li Yu’s father picked up a shrimp with his chopsticks and placed it in Li Yu’s bowl. He said seriously:
"Yu, don’t listen to your mother’s nonsense. If you say this Spiritual Sect is difficult to deal with, then you must treat them with caution and seriousness. You can’t treat the safety of the people as a game."
"Got it?"
"Also, do you need us old-timers to lend a hand?"
"Not for now."
Li Yu said, shaking his head.
’He could handle all the enemies that had appeared so far. And with the mysterious master as hidden reinforcement... The Spiritual Sect might be making a lot of noise, but they hadn’t accomplished anything meaningful. In fact, most of the time, they were just sending their people to get killed. The only ones he needed to be wary of now were the Vice Bishop and those characters from the Spirit Realm.’
Seeing Li Yu shake his head, his father nodded with a gratified smile.
"It’s good that you can handle it yourself. This era belongs to you young people, after all. People like us are old now."
In reality, behind the special organization were many old-timers like Li Yu’s father.
They were all individuals who had possessed great power since the early days of the Spiritual Qi recovery, but they would almost never choose to intervene.
This was because unless a Sequencer reached the eighth tier, their lifespan was only one or two hundred years. In order to live longer and save their final burst of strength for a critical moment,
they would go into seclusion upon reaching a certain age. They would only emerge if the younger generation encountered a major crisis they couldn’t handle.
Strictly speaking, this wasn’t limited to Sequencers. According to ancient records, it was the same for Martial Artists, Prodigies, and Confucian Scholars. Only by reaching the eighth tier could one’s lifespan reach a thousand years.
The only exception was the Qi Cultivator. Once they stepped into the Extraordinary realm, their lifespan could reach two hundred years. With each step forward, their life would grow longer and longer, until it was one with the Dao.
This was also why Li Yu was so wary of the Spiritual Sect.
According to the organization’s calculations, the Evil Cultivator behind the Spiritual Sect had lived for at least five hundred years. With such a long lifespan, it was impossible to imagine how terrifying his power must be!
RING... RING...
The sudden ring of his cell phone broke Li Yu from his thoughts. He gave his parents an apologetic look, then walked aside to answer it, asking:
"Hello? Is something wrong?"
"Li Yu, Liu Chang is injured."
