Free Web NovelChapter 179: Chapter 179: Better to Kill by Mistake Than to Let One Go
Shen Daoxing hurriedly leaped off the Cloud Platform and rushed to Lv Yunsheng’s side. He fumbled inside his robe, took out a bottle of Healing Elixir, and poured a few pills into his mouth.
Instantly, a warm current flowed through Lv Yunsheng’s entire body.
Afterward, Shen Daoxing checked Lv Yunsheng’s injuries. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found they weren’t life-threatening.
At that moment, Lv Yunsheng slowly opened his eyes and woke up. "Yang," he said, "I didn’t bring shame to our Martial Kingdom this time, did I?"
Shen Daoxing’s heart stirred, and he nodded. "That’s right. You did very well."
This time, Lv Yunsheng had lost the match, but he had conquered himself. He hadn’t just broken through to a new realm; his entire state of mind had transformed. From now on, his cultivation path should be much smoother.
With the end of the duel between Shen Mo Feng and Lv Yunsheng, the top eight contestants were all decided.
Immediately, Zhao Wufeng flicked his sleeve, holding out a bag of brocade pouches. "Will the remaining contestants please come to the stage and draw."
SWISH!
A white light flashed.
The Ancient Sword Marquis’s sword flew out again. It sliced past the bag in Zhao Wufeng’s hand and, with a CLINK, pinned one of the brocade pouches to the Celestial Pride Stele nearby, revealing the character for "Four" on it.
Shen Mo Feng glanced at the barely conscious Lv Yunsheng, then his gaze shifted to Shen Daoxing, a smirk playing on his lips.
He then stepped forward and took a brocade pouch from Zhao Wufeng’s hand. He opened it, saw the character for "Two," but did not leave. Instead, he turned to look at Shen Daoxing as if waiting for something.
Shen Daoxing ignored him. While supporting Lv Yunsheng, he walked up to Zhao Wufeng and took a pouch. He glanced at it, then tossed it to the ground. Without a backward glance, he helped Lv Yunsheng away from the stage.
On the pouch lying on the ground was the character for "One."
"Young Master Sun! You can rest assured. I will not be merciful!"
At that moment, Sun Shufeng slowly walked out from beside Shen Mo Feng, a meaningful smile on his face as he looked at Shen Daoxing.
And in his hand was a brocade pouch with the character for "One."
"Sun Shufeng is the third-ranked prodigy on the Martial Arts Ranking, an expert at the Ninth Layer of the Grotto Heaven realm! Shen Daoxing is sure to lose this time."
Someone in the crowd shouted.
Hearing this, Sun Shufeng couldn’t help but smile smugly.
Shen Daoxing took Lv Yunsheng back to their room in the Heroes Tower. After confirming multiple times that his friend’s injuries were not serious, Shen Daoxing returned to his own room, sat cross-legged on the bed, and closed his eyes to rest.
Time passed, and the sky gradually darkened.
...
「A hidden outpost of the Asura Tower in Ancient Moon City.」
"AHH..."
"Don’t kill me..."
"URGH..."
Countless sprays of crimson blood splattered in the flickering candlelight, dyeing the walls red amidst continuous, blood-curdling screams.
At this moment, two figures walked indifferently among the corpses of the Asura Tower disciples, their steps as unhurried as a leisurely stroll in a courtyard.
One of them wore a white Daoist robe and appeared gentle and refined, but the cold expression he wore while standing amidst a pile of corpses was chilling.
The other held a sword in his arms. His sharp eyes were like those of a hawk, constantly fixed on its prey, seeing through you completely.
The sword-hugging man glanced at the corpses and uttered a single word, "Weak!"
The white-robed man said nothing. Instead, he took out an Ancient Copper Mirror from his waist. Its edges were engraved with the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, and within the mirror’s surface, a white mist swirled and rippled, vaguely revealing what looked like human figures.
The white-robed man walked in a circle around the nearby corpses while holding the copper mirror, but the mirror showed no reaction.
The sword-hugging man turned to the white-robed man. "Nothing?"
The white-robed man shook his head. "Nothing."
The sword-hugging man frowned. "Is the Celestial Slaughter Star really in the city?"
The white-robed man said flatly, "Master’s prophecies are never wrong. If he said the Celestial Slaughter Star would appear in Ancient Moon City, then it will definitely appear in Ancient Moon City."
Just then, the copper mirror in the white-robed man’s hand rippled, and its surface suddenly emitted a faint light.
The sword-hugging man tilted his head, having noticed something. The longsword held to his chest shot out, and in an instant, a flash of sword light split a nearby table in two, revealing two children hidden underneath.
The two children were no older than six or seven and clung to each other, their faces filled with terror.
Seeing they were discovered, the slightly older boy quickly crawled out. With a THUD, he fell to his knees before the two men and begged for his life.
"Immortal Masters, please spare us! Immortal Masters, please spare our lives! My little brother and I are orphans. We were just so hungry that we came here to steal. We didn’t mean to stumble upon you two Immortal Masters! Please, be merciful and don’t kill..."
But before he could finish his sentence, the sword-hugging man’s blade flashed. The boy’s body froze, and his head suddenly dropped to the floor.
"Wait!"
The white-robed man beside him looked at the copper mirror in his hand and shouted urgently, "It’s not them!"
The ripples on the copper mirror in his hand faded, the light vanished, and it became still once more.
"Better to kill the wrong person than to let one slip by,"
the sword-hugging man said flatly, slowly sheathing his sword.
"Sigh."
The white-robed man sighed and shook his head, but then suddenly pointed a finger forward.
Instantly, a bloody hole appeared on the remaining child’s forehead, and he fell down stiffly.
"Then we’ll pull it out by the roots,"
the white-robed man said faintly.
...
The night passed without incident.
「The next day.」
When the first ray of sunlight shone through the window onto Shen Daoxing’s face, he snapped his eyes open and strode out of his room.
A short while later, he arrived at the main terrace. The arena was currently empty. Shen Daoxing leaped lightly to a private seat before one of the Cloud Platforms, sat down, and closed his eyes to rest his mind.
He waited for quite some time before people gradually started to arrive.
Once everyone was seated, Zhao Wufeng walked to the center of the terrace, made a few polite remarks, and then announced the start of the day’s duels.
"First match: Shen Daoxing versus Sun Shufeng,"
Zhao Wufeng announced slowly.
Shen Daoxing’s figure flickered, and he leaped down into the arena.
After a long wait, Sun Shufeng finally walked onto the stage with his head held high, not even deigning to look Shen Daoxing in the eye.
"Shen Daoxing is dead meat this time. Sun Shufeng is the third-ranked prodigy on the Martial Arts Ranking and an expert at the Ninth Layer of the Grotto Heaven realm. His Celestial Spirit Infinite Sword Technique is masterfully executed and has reached perfection. He once single-handedly killed over a dozen experts at the Ninth Layer of the Grotto Heaven realm, and he even held his own for dozens of moves against a Spirit Transformation realm expert! Although he can’t compare to Shen Mo Feng, he’s still one of the top ten prodigies in the history of our East Continent."
"Exactly! Shen Daoxing just got lucky the first two times! Brother Sun, teach this kid a lesson for us! What right does he have? How is he worthy of Fairy Shangguan’s favor?"
The crowd below erupted.
The Second Prince of the Great Yong Empire, Zhu Yingde, stood up again and shouted, "Sun Shufeng, my previous offer still stands! As long as you can leave that kid bedridden for life, my Great Yong Empire will grant you the title of Marquis!"
Then, Liu Wancheng of Daqian’s prestigious Liu Family also stood up. "Sun Shufeng, cripple one of his arms, and my Liu Family of Daqian will offer a Ten Thousand Year Spirit Ginseng. If you can cripple both, my family will offer two!"
