Chapter 278: Stunning Blade Puppet, clearing his name, Cloud Dragon Army

Xia Chuan's Blade Puppet was rarely shown to people in the camp.

Except for the people of the Cloud Dragon team, others basically had only seen its static appearance in the Weapon Refining Workshop. No one knew what its specific strength was.

And this Blade Puppet before their eyes was clearly very different from last year's.

Last year's Blade Puppet was over five meters high, red in appearance, with no details on the head, only an open mouth. At the ends of its hands and legs were four two-meter-long giant hundred-forged broadswords. The main trunks of its limbs and torso were also cast with countless one-meter-long hundred-forged small sharp knives, looking like it was covered in a layer of sharp knife thorns;

While this new Blade Puppet before their eyes was only over three meters high, golden in appearance. At the ends of its four limbs were two one-meter-long blade pieces each. The blades were clearly specially cast, embedded together vertically in a cross shape, generally forming a four-sided sharpened cone style.

The main trunks of the limbs and torso were still stuck full of sharp knives as before, but the sharp knives had also shrunk by half, only over half a meter long.

Although this new Blade Puppet's body size was small, under Xia Chuan's control, its movements were clearly much more flexible than before. Looking from afar, it resembled a real person with a slender and delicate body.

It was just that the cold light emitted from its body from time to time was full of pressure.

"Cross-intersecting, four-sided sharpened—is this still a blade?"

"It's a puppet itself, different from us normal people. It's controlled by the Secretary using silk threads to exert force. It doesn't matter if it's a blade or not."

"Thousand-forged, look clearly, those eight blade pieces are all thousand-forged grade."

"It really is. The sharp knives on the limbs and torso main trunk parts are hundred-forged, but the eight blade pieces at the ends of the limbs are all thousand-forged grade."

"Thousand-forged weapons are not cheap. Except for the leader, currently, there are few people in the entire camp who have them. Eight blade pieces, plus so many hundred-forged sharp knives on its body—how much contribution value must this Blade Puppet have cost to build?"

"Nonsense, not to mention the hunting ability of the Cloud Dragon team, just taking down the three Longyou families in April, the Secretary probably earned over a hundred thousand contribution points. Right now, the person with the most contribution points in the entire camp is probably him."

"Tsk tsk, over a hundred thousand, this is too scary."

Unlike the exclamations of the onlookers on the side, the two in the arena were abnormally quiet.

Xia Chuan controlled the Blade Puppet to walk behind him and stand still, looking at Yu Wendao.

Clearly, neither of them said anything, but everyone could feel the invisible sparks rubbed out when their gazes met.

Actually, it was also normal.

In Great Xia, revolving around Xia Chuan and Yu Wendao, there had always been an enduring discussion, and until now, there had been no clear result.

That is, between these two, whose strength is actually better!

In terms of talent, because Yu Wendao was one year younger than Xia Chuan, he was better in cultivation; but after breaking through to the Cold-Resisting level, Xia Chuan's basic power was six Zong, a bit stronger than Yu Wendao's five-plus Zong. In terms of aptitude, Xia Chuan won again.

From these two angles, the two's talent should be evenly matched.

So the only thing that could distinguish the two was strength!

The problem was that these two had never fought even once.

Whose strength was stronger had always been a highly discussed topic in Great Xia.

Derived from this topic was another more critical question: whether Xia Chuan, this Secretary, was unworthy of his position.

In the Frozen Abyss World, strength is everything.

The "virtue" here, of course, refers to strength.

Last year, when Jingxian merged into Great Xia, Xia Hong integrated the six departments and directly appointed Xia Chuan as Secretary. This resolution was questioned by quite a few people at the time.

Especially the group of people who merged over from Jingxian. Yu Wendao himself might not have had much opinion, but Hong Guang, Hong Tian, Meng Yi, and others were very resentful.

Until now, a small part of the voices had been circulating in the camp, saying that Xia Chuan relied on his identity as the leader's younger brother to become this Secretary.

Everyone actually knew in their hearts who spread these rumors, including Xia Chuan. He certainly wouldn't take these rumors to heart.

But to say he didn't have any emotional fluctuations at all, that wouldn't be the case either.

He was only nineteen, at the age of being full of vigor. Facing these questions, how could he completely not take them to heart?

In the end, he only saw that these questioning voices wouldn't cause any actual loss to the camp, so he chose to ignore them.

As long as there was an opportunity, he would naturally choose to clear his name!

At this moment, it was a rare good opportunity.

"Secretary Yu Wendao, I won't hold back today. Be careful!"

"The Secretary's Blade Puppet, I have long wanted to learn from. Today, it's not easy to have an opportunity. If the Secretary holds back, I would have an opinion instead."

Yu Wendao's gunpowder-filled response clearly also proved that he wasn't completely unresponsive to those discussions in the camp.

"The Secretary's Blade Puppet is powerful. I, Tao, will shamelessly seize the initiative!"

Sharp was not only the response but also the action.

Swish......

As his voice fell, Yu Wendao's brow Holy Pattern suddenly appeared. He held the broadsword high with both hands and rushed straight toward Xia Chuan. Nearly eight Zong—that is, nearly eight hundred thousand jin of giant power driving his body—was like a small mountain. Just the high temperature caused by the friction with the air during the collision melted the snow in mid-air into mist.

The snow mist stirred up by Yu Wendao was too broad, and even the sword edge mixed in it was very hard to see clearly. Everyone only felt a fierce wind blowing toward their faces, and the next second, they discovered that his body had already arrived in front of Xia Chuan.

"Ignoring the Blade Puppet to take Xia Chuan first—'capture the thief by capturing the king first'. The idea is not bad."

Xia Hong saw Yu Wendao's intention at a glance, but only gave a "the idea is not bad" evaluation.

Clang......

The reason was very simple. Although the new Blade Puppet was smaller than last year's, it was still over three meters high. Compared to humans, its body size was still very large. Not to mention Xia Chuan controlled it to stand by his side, Yu Wendao's idea was destined to fail.

Xia Chuan only pulled the silk threads vertically with his left hand, and the puppet raised its left arm fiercely, and the broadsword blocked Yu Wendao's broadsword horizontally.

At the same time, the small dagger in Xia Chuan's right hand suddenly turned into a one-meter-long black broadsword, lifting his hand to draw a black blade edge in mid-air, slashing straight down at Yu Wendao from top to bottom.

In a martial arts battle, one naturally wouldn't deal a fatal blow. Just like when Yu Wendao rushed toward him just now, the target was the limbs. Xia Chuan's strike also aimed at his left shoulder.

Clang...... Whoosh......

The broadsword and the black blade collided, first making a crisp sound of metal and stone intersecting, and then a shockwave centered on the two spread out, sweeping away the white snow that hadn't accumulated high on the ground. The bare ground directly formed a large circle with a radius of four or five hundred meters.

Hum!

The crowd watching outside the arena only reacted now as to why Xia Hong set the venue for the Cold-Resisting level martial arts tournament at a radius of five hundred meters.

It was just a bit too late to react now.

The shockwave shook from the inside out. The thirty-plus Cold-Resisting level members were all fine, but the hundred Earth-Digging Realm members were miserable. They all inserted their weapons into the ground, then grabbed them with both hands, puffed up their energy, and prepared to resist this blow.

The aftermath of Luo Yuan and Chen Yingyuan's exchange just now could knock them all over; the fight between Yu Wendao and Peng Bo later, they also couldn't stand firm;

At this moment, the shockwave created by Xia Chuan and Yu Wendao was clearly even more terrifying than the previous two pairs.

If they didn't take measures, being shaken away wouldn't be anything, but if they were shaken and injured, that would be too shameful.

Everyone gritted their teeth, watching the shockwave gradually approach.

Just as the aftermath was about to arrive, Xia Hong in the front row moved.

He only extended his right leg and stomped on the ground.

Bang!

Everyone only felt the earth under their feet shake fiercely, and the astonishingly powerful shockwave that had rushed over was directly and completely neutralized.

Including the thirty-plus Cold-Resisting level members, everyone was dumbfounded.

"It was just a stomp, I didn't even see the leader exert force."

"The leader's strength is so strong!"

While the crowd on the sidelines was shocked by the power of Xia Hong's light stomp, the battle between Xia Chuan and Yu Wendao in the arena had gradually become white-hot.

The black blade edge Xia Chuan just slashed out with his right hand didn't successfully hit Yu Wendao's left shoulder, because Yu Wendao borrowed the remaining force of the collision between the broadsword and the Blade Puppet, flipped his body from mid-air, and went directly behind the Blade Puppet.

Yu Wendao clearly realized that it was impossible to defeat Xia Chuan while ignoring the Blade Puppet, so his target directly changed to the Blade Puppet.

He held the broadsword tightly with both hands, avoided the Blade Puppet's limb broadswords, and frantically slashed, blocked, and guarded against its torso and main trunk parts. After a series of clanging sounds, he really did cut off quite a few sharp knives.

"His broadsword is also thousand-forged grade. The sharp knives inserted on the Blade Puppet's torso and main trunk are only hundred-forged material, so naturally, they can't block it."

Xia Hong's eyes flashed slightly, and a trace of appreciation rose in his eyes as he looked at Yu Wendao.

Because the Blade Puppet was covered in sharp knives, Yu Wendao had to avoid them. In this way, the scope of his battle with Xia Chuan was very limited.

Cutting off those sharp knives should just be the first step.

The second step that followed should be to solve the limb main trunks!

Just as Xia Hong expected, after Yu Wendao cut off quite a few sharp knives, his target was placed on the Blade Puppet's limbs—accurately speaking, the broadsword at the end of the Blade Puppet's right leg.

However, Xia Chuan was not so easy to deal with.

The sharp knife thorns on the Blade Puppet's main trunk were destroyed over a large area, but Xia Chuan didn't panic at all. His left hand controlled the limbs to attack frantically, constantly compressing Yu Wendao's activity space, while his right hand constantly slashed out black blade edges, forcing Yu Wendao back step by step, not letting him concentrate on attacking the Blade Puppet's right leg.

"Breaking points and cutting lines—Xia Chuan uses one hand and five fingers to control the Blade Puppet, focusing on balance. As long as one finger is broken, the other four fingers must exert force to maintain balance. Seeing it so quickly, smart!"

Clang......

The broadsword and the right leg collided again. Fierce sparks suddenly burst out. Xia Chuan's little finger pulled fiercely, and the Blade Puppet raised its hands high, slashing vertically at Yu Wendao's hands holding the sword.

"Not dodging?"

Xia Chuan's intention was to force Yu Wendao to give up attacking the Blade Puppet's right leg.

Such a scene had already happened three or four times just now, so this time, he also felt that Yu Wendao would inevitably dodge.

But facts proved that this time, he was wrong!

Yuwendao did not dodge this time, and instead, he pressed down hard with both hands, actually managing to bend the blade on the puppet's right leg.

"Being so arrogant, you'll lose......"

The Blade Puppet was suppressed, but Xia Chuan himself could still move.

His left hand maintained the Blade Puppet with five fingers, and he leaped with all his might. His right hand holding the blade drew a black arc in mid-air, slashing straight at Yu Wendao's back.

Whoosh......

In the place of the battle, Xia Chuan had also long since unleashed the Holy Pattern. After a 30% increase, his power was over eight Zong, still above Yu Wendao's.

But the problem was that he was holding the blade with one hand at this moment!

Holding the blade with one hand meant he couldn't exert his full strength.

Although this strike had great momentum, Xia Chuan knew in his heart that the threat to Yu Wendao wasn't too great. At the very least, he couldn't decide the outcome with one strike.

"Ah!"

The situation was exactly as he had anticipated; Yuwendao did not turn back to dodge the blade, but instead let out an angry roar and continued to press forward with all his might, forcing the puppet's right-leg blade all the way to the ground, even sinking it completely into the earth.

Crack......

The Blade Puppet knelt on the ground, and the already taut silk threads pulled back fiercely. Xia Chuan heard a crisp cracking sound from his finger bones, and his expression changed drastically.

Bang!

Although his expression changed drastically, Xia Chuan's black blade finally slashed onto Yu Wendao's back.

However, Yu Wendao was also a super-grade battle body.

This strike of Xia Chuan's, which couldn't exert full strength, didn't break through his skin-membrane and didn't even completely crush his body.

"Secretary, offense taken!"

Yu Wendao roared angrily, withdrew the broadsword that had just pressed down the Blade Puppet, turned around fiercely, and slashed toward Xia Chuan's chest behind him.

"The real target is still Xia Chuan!"

Not only Xia Hong but all the Cold-Resisting level members present saw the clues.

Yu Wendao's target from beginning to end was Xia Chuan.

Concentrating on attacking the Blade Puppet and pressing down the Blade Puppet's right leg broadsword were all to attract Xia Chuan to approach him.

Using his back to forcibly endure this strike as the price, and then swinging the broadsword around his body to slash back, was Yu Wendao's real purpose.

The timing of this move could be said to be shocking to the extreme!

"This is an innate combat sense, unrelated to talent, not even something that can be cultivated. Yu Wendao is a born fighting expert. This isn't even a life-and-death battle. If it were a life-and-death battle, Xia Chuan might really......"

Xia Hong's inner sigh didn't end. The next scene completely reversed his thinking, and the look in his eyes toward Xia Chuan also changed instantly.

Hiss......

That was the sound of the silk threads retracting too fast, making a sharp hissing sound after rubbing against the air.

Swish swish swish......

That Blade Puppet actually began to shake rapidly, and the ground around its right leg was quickly blown away by dust and gravel.

Between the flying sand and rocks, the entire ground was actually directly uncovered.

Bang... bang... bang......

"The Blade Puppet's right leg broadsword is rotating!"

"So fast, it opened four sharpened edges, so the ground was plowed open."

"The Blade Puppet doesn't need to stand up; it can attack directly from the ground."

Whoosh!

Just like the discussions of those behind Xia Hong, the Blade Puppet's shaking was because its right leg, which had sunk into the ground, began to rotate rapidly.

The originally four-sided sharpened blade pieces directly overturned the ground by relying on the rotation and also attacked Yu Wendao's back along the ground.

Yu Wendao, who was swinging his sword horizontally, had already sensed the broadsword attacking from his back, but he still didn't want to give up and continued to slash the broadsword toward Xia Chuan's waist.

Pfft......

Xia Chuan couldn't break through Yu Wendao's skin-membrane just now because he was holding the blade with one hand.

But Yu Wendao's strike was different. He was using both hands and had slashed after swinging a circle to accumulate force.

The sword edge sliced open his waist, and Xia Chuan's lower abdomen immediately bled profusely.

This could be considered the most serious injury in this martial arts tournament tonight.

All the watching Cold-Resisting level members had their expressions change. They all turned to look at Xia Hong in front and found that Xia Hong was always expressionless, so they felt relieved.

Bang......

His waist was broken open, and Xia Chuan's body was also hit flying like a cannonball.

But he only flew out for over ten meters and stopped.

With his own full strength of nearly eight Zong, Xia Chuan couldn't have been hit flying for only such a short distance. He was still holding the silk threads in his hand, and they hadn't broken. What was he doing......

Thoughts flew through Yu Wendao's mind. His expression changed drastically, and he fiercely withdrew his sword and turned back.

But his speed was slow.

Crack......

The Blade Puppet's rapidly rotating right leg first slashed onto his broadsword, and then its arms and that left leg—three four-sided sharpened and rapidly rotating broadswords—all slammed onto his broadsword.

Bang!

The Blade Puppet was controlled by Xia Chuan, and the power it could exert was at most Xia Chuan's limit power.

Therefore, Yu Wendao gritted his teeth and tried his best to hold the sword, ultimately blocking the power of the four broadswords.

But that was all!

The Blade Puppet had no limbs, but it still had a head.

Although that head only had one mouth.

To be precise, it was a pitch-black hole.

When the Blade Puppet's head was pressed tightly against his face.

Yu Wendao's expression froze instantly.

Although the Blade Puppet didn't move, inside that pitch-black hole on its face, there seemed to be something extremely dangerous. Just staring at it for a while, a drop of cold sweat seeped out of Yu Wendao's forehead.

"Secretary Yu Wendao, you lost!"

A trace of unwillingness flashed across Yu Wendao's face. He subconsciously gripped the broadsword in his hand, but after hesitating for a moment, he still let go.

"I lost!"

Xia Chuan won.

The entire arena was silent. Yuan Cheng, Qiu Peng, Lu Yang, Lin Kai, Luo Yuan, and other old people of Great Xia had faces full of excitement and joy.

While Meng Yi, Hong Guang, Hong Tian, and others all had their bodies slightly shaken.

Including Peng Bo, who had just lost to Yu Wendao, his face was also full of shock at this moment.

Unlike the others, only Xia Hong stared at the pitch-black hole on the Blade Puppet's face, a trace of curiosity and speculation rising in his eyes.

"Inside there, it seems there is also a retractable ceremonial blade hidden, connected to the limb broadswords. The rotation of the limbs will give it power......"

Xia Chuan, who had won, treated the wound on his waist and finally walked back expressionlessly with Yu Wendao.

He unreservedly cast his gaze toward Hong Guang, Hong Tian, Meng Yi, Zhu Yuan, and others. The questioning contained in his eyes was very obvious.

And after these people met his gaze, they all lowered their heads slightly.

"Secretary is better, this subordinate is convinced!"

Yu Wendao's final recognition could be considered to have made Xia Chuan's position as Secretary truly well-deserved from today on.

A smile also rose on Xia Hong's face, and he laughed heartily:

"Good, the Cold-Resisting level martial arts tournament ends here. It seems the unit number of Great Xia's first army has been revealed."

Cloud Dragon Army!

Xia Chuan and Liu Yuan became the two most excited people in the arena at this moment.

The Cloud Dragon team was the first hunting team in Great Xia to form an army.

Such an important matter would inevitably leave a heavy stroke in the Great Xia Chronicle in Yue Feng's hands. As the captain, Xia Chuan, and the deputy captain, Liu Yuan, naturally felt honored.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 279 =====