Chapter 848: The Number One Under Heaven

The sun was climbing higher; it was just the time for tea.

A few tables of travelers were sitting at the tea house by the official road, chatting idly about this and that.

"Look, what is that..." a guest suddenly pointed into the distance and said.

Everyone followed the finger and looked, vaguely spotting two specks. They were originally very far away, but before they could discuss it for long, in the blink of an eye, those two specks shifted from faint to distinct, and it was possible to vaguely make out two human figures. In another blink, those two had already arrived in front of the tea house.

The people in the tea house were stunned, as if in a dream. There were martial artists present who were quite knowledgeable, and they naturally understood that neither top-tier steeds nor top-tier light-gong skills could possibly possess such speed. Looking closely, one of the two was a lean youth carrying an exaggeratedly long saber, while the other was a middle-aged man dressed as a Daoist.

"There is still some time before the Martial Arts Assembly, let us rest a while and have a bowl of tea before moving on." The middle-aged man, called Jiuyun Daozhang, smiled and removed the Jiaoma from his body.

"Very well." The saber-wielding youth Ling Yunqing nodded and took off his Jiaoma to hand to the middle-aged Daoist.

The two entered the tea house, chose a seat, ordered tea from the tea master, and began to converse in low voices.

Jiuyun Daozhang said in a low voice: "This Martial Arts Assembly is being manipulated by a bug master. He has controlled the sect leaders of the Seven Great Sects to form an alliance under the pretext of resisting the 'Heaven Beyond Heaven' and to elect an Alliance Leader. And this Alliance Leader will inevitably be Yu Tianhua. He is not only a master of the Martial Dao side like you, but also a Stand User. If we are to talk about true strength, aside from the captain, none of us can steadily defeat him."

"Since the sect leaders of the Seven Great Sects have already been controlled, this Martial Arts Assembly will surely be foolproof, so why must we rush so urgently?" Ling Yunqing gulped down a bowl of tea and clicked his tongue twice, feeling that this tea was not as satisfying as wine.

"Hehe, being cautious is always correct. Do not forget that Wuchen Gongzi's whereabouts are unknown, and Yu Liancheng is also hard to track. If these two were to cause trouble at the Martial Arts Assembly, it would inevitably lead to some trouble." Jiuyun Daozhang laughed: "Once this alliance is formed, it will be a behemoth that dominates most of the Edo, which will be of great help for us to complete our two main quests."

The lean youth Ling Yunqing gripped his saber hilt and sneered: "If they do not appear, so be it. If they dare to show themselves, then Ba Dao shall be their cautionary tale."

Just at this moment, three people were sitting in the corner of the tea house, and one man wearing a bamboo hat stood up and walked toward the two step by step.

Ling Yunqing and Jiuyun Daozhang naturally noticed this person; they exchanged a glance, their expressions slightly grave. This person kept his head down and his bamboo hat pressed low, making his features unclear, but both of them felt a sense of familiarity with this bamboo-hat guest.

Especially Ling Yunqing, who was on the Martial Dao side, could feel a killing intent from this bamboo-hat guest—a biting, chilling killing intent that had already shrouded the entire tea house. The other tea guests felt the temperature drop sharply and could not help but shiver.

The bamboo-hat guest walked to the table of Ling Yunqing and Jiuyun Daozhang and asked in a cold voice: "Have you two finished your tea?"

This voice also had an indescribable familiarity. The eyes of Ling Yunqing and Jiuyun Daozhang both became somewhat strange. They had almost confirmed the identity of the person who had arrived, but that fellow had clearly had his head chopped off. In this world of the Martial Dao side, there was no such thing as ghosts or gods; it was absolutely impossible for a soul to borrow a corpse to return to life. Could it be a twin brother coming to seek revenge?

Ling Yunqing's palm could not help but grip his saber hilt: "What if we have finished the tea? What if we haven't?"

"If you haven't finished the tea, then please continue. One should always be tolerant toward the dying, at least so they don't become a thirsty ghost." The man took off his bamboo hat and placed it on the table, revealing a rugged face: "If you have finished the tea, then I am here to avenge my beheading."

When Ling Yunqing saw this face, his pupils shrank; his conjecture was confirmed beyond doubt.

"Ba Dao!!"

Ling Yunqing immediately drew his saber from its sheath, while a talisman appeared in Jiuyun Daozhang's hand.

Boom—!!

The next moment, the tea house suddenly fell apart and collapsed.

Streaks of saber Qi crisscrossed, tearing through bricks, stones, and earth as dust flew.

Two figures flew out from the collapsed tea house, their two sabers clashing incessantly, sparks flying everywhere, the saber light resembling two swimming dragons entangled together.

Immediately after, more figures crawled out from the rubble; they were the tea house guests.

They were covered in dust, but surprisingly, not a single one was injured.

The tea house proprietor and the tea master naturally ran away too. The proprietor looked back three times as he ran, clearly reluctant to leave his little shop, but his life was more important. Little did he know, two ingots of silver had already slipped into his money pouch at some point. Yu Liancheng and Liusheng Piaoxu had already flashed out the moment the tea house collapsed, remaining spotless, and were currently watching the two combatants with great interest.

The last to struggle out from the rubble was Jiuyun Daozhang. Not only were his clothes disheveled and he in a sorry state, but more importantly, there was a gruesome saber wound on his chest.

It turned out that Ba Dao's first strike had been aimed at Jiuyun Daozhang. To perform Daoist arts, Jiuyun Daozhang needed to form hand seals and chant incantations; he had no time to block that strike, which was as fast as lightning, and was nearly cut in two, his aura extremely weak.

He took out a 'Rejuvenation Talisman', and following the incantation, his wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. He then looked at the two who were fighting, his eyes filled with wariness and disbelief.

This person was indeed Ba Dao.

He had actually truly resurrected.

And his martial arts seemed to have reached an even higher level.

The Main God is a pit; this is at most a Middle Martial World, so why would such an incredible thing as a dead man resurrect happen?!

"Hmph, what Ba Dao, I don't care if you are man or ghost; I could kill you once, I can kill you a second time, a third time." Ling Yunqing roared, his still-delicate face appearing somewhat ferocious, as the long saber in his hand transformed into wheels of saber light, surging toward Ba Dao like waves, layer upon layer.

Ba Dao flashed his figure, dodging the saber light, then retreated another seven or eight meters, looking coldly at Ling Yunqing: "Killing you once is enough!"

He raised his hand toward the sky, his expression becoming indifferent, and slashed out a strike from thin air.

"Empty Turning Emotion, Xiqing Fanyong. This strike, Joyous as Madness!"

This strike was executed extremely quickly, as if a faint arc of light had flashed through the air.

Yet it did not reveal the slightest bit of saber intent, and even restrained all killing intent, making everything empty.

Moreover, the two were separated by a distance of several meters; if not for exerting full strength, the saber light crossing the air would likely not even have touched the corner of the opponent's clothes.

But for some reason, Ling Yunqing felt a warning sign in his heart, feeling all the hairs on his body stand up. Suddenly, the void trembled, and a scorching red saber light appeared above his right side, slashing diagonally across.

Ling Yunqing hurriedly raised his saber to block, but just as that blood-red saber light was about to touch his saber, it swirled in mid-air and sliced off half of his left shoulder. Ling Yunqing let out a miserable shriek, nearly fainting from the pain. Yet, an emotion of excitement surged into his head, almost making him want to sing and dance.

"This strike, Numanchang!" Separated by several meters, Ba Dao slashed out another strike.

The next moment, another red saber light appeared abruptly. This saber light looked bright, but was actually deep, giving one the feeling of volcanic magma. Ling Yunqing forcibly suppressed his injuries and emotions, wanting to block this strike.

Unfortunately, the power contained in this saber light was too strong. Ling Yunqing's long saber flew out of his hand, the saber light slashed directly toward his neck, and a fine head flew up, the expression of wild joy frozen on his face.