Chapter 217: The Subtleties of Combat

Boom!

Like a heavy hammer striking a drum.

Centered on the two clashing, the ground within several zhang collapsed uniformly; immediately after, countless clods of earth mixed with rain and mist rose heavily into the sky, spreading in a circle.

Combat changes in an instant; Li Yuan had not intended to go all out this time, but after spotting a chance for victory, he acted decisively, ending it with one hammer strike!

The Fire Dragon Sword was longer than an arm, but the long-handled heavy hammer was even longer than the Fire Dragon Sword; before a sword could pierce the heart, his heavy hammer had already arrived.

With the Register of Weapons in his possession, how could he lack weapons?

Boom!

Qi energy spread like a tide.

Li Yuan, having struck successfully, immediately retracted his heavy hammer, reached out to grab the Fire Dragon Sword that rang in his ears, tapped his foot, and shot into the night rain like an arrow leaving the bowstring.

Two people blocked his path, but how could they stop him in time? They only felt a pain in their wrists as their swords and blades were snatched away.

"My sword!"

"Ah! Stop him!"

This series of changes happened in an instant, so fast that the onlookers did not react; only the two elders who had lost their assigned weapons reacted fastest, cursing furiously as they chased after him.

By the time the rain and mist cleared, Yue's weight's face finally changed drastically:

"Master?!"

They saw that amidst the ruins, Feng Feng Yuanqing's upper half was sunk into the mud, his head completely hammered into his chest cavity!

"Brother Feng!"

Inside the rear courtyard, the onlookers all changed color; several leaped up to chase, but how could they catch up?

Whoosh~

In the night curtain, Li Yuan shifted and changed his form; with a few rises and falls, he had already left everyone behind.

Whether it hit or missed, withdrawing and fleeing far away—he had already grasped the essence of assassination.

"Li Li Yuanba!"

Behind him came a venomous roar that the wind and rain could not suppress; Li Yuan turned back to look and saw figures crossing paths, with many folk houses along the street lighting up their lamps.

Boom!

Li Yuan exerted force beneath his feet; he did not deliberately hide his tracks, and the Fire Dragon Sword, red as fire, was very conspicuous in the rainy night.

He went west all the way, alarming countless patrol soldiers; finally, he climbed over a wall to exit the city, and only after confirming he had been seen did he find a tunnel of the Star-Picking Tower to take a detour back into the city.

By the time he circled back to the small courtyard, the Divine Guard Army's base was already brightly lit; having just arrived in Dechang Prefecture, all disciples of the Divine Weapon Valley were tense, relaxed on the outside but tight on the inside.

Hah!

Inside the room, Li Yuan quickly changed his clothes and put away this entire outfit; blood seeped from his right arm and left shoulder.

The Fire Dragon Sword's Qi was extremely sharp; although his lightness skill was excellent, he had still been struck by a few swords, but fortunately he wore inner armor and was never directly hit, so it did not count as an injury.

He shifted his blood and Qi, and soon the injuries had healed.

He had achieved success in the Thousand-Quintal Qi Art; although his internal Qi was thinner compared to Feng Feng Yuanqing, it could still resist that person's Fire Dragon Qi Art.

"With the Fire Dragon Temple's endorsement, news of Li Li Yuanba appearing in Dechang Prefecture should spread quickly, right?"

Li Yuan muttered to himself.

He had originally thought about having his ghost-face mask knocked off "by chance" during the fight so people would see his true face, but after thinking it over, he gave up.

Li Li Yuanba's appearance was enough; being too deliberate would only arouse suspicion.

"Holding a quasi-divine weapon and having reached the peak of the Meridian-Opening realm, he is far stronger than the two Thousand-Quintal Cave elders I killed before..."

Li Yuan lit an oil lamp, paced a few steps inside the room, and calmed the throbbing after the great battle.

Regarding combat experience, backed by hundreds of bloody battles in the Shan Xuan Bing Mi Jing, he was not inferior to Feng Feng Yuanqing; as the master of the Fire Dragon Temple, that man might never have fought hundreds of bloody battles in his entire life.

The Jianghu is full of fighting, but except for the Xieshen Sect, the vast majority of sect experts rarely engage in bloody battles against martial artists of the same realm.

"Once the fighting starts, it's easy to get carried away."

Reviewing tonight's journey, killing Feng Feng Yuanqing, seizing the Fire Dragon Sword, and Li Li Yuanba's appearance—three major goals were all accomplished.

Li Yuan felt reasonably satisfied; the only flaw was that he had gotten carried away.

Before going out, he had prepared for a protracted war.

Relying on his lightness skill, he could have launched multiple ambushes; if just one succeeded, he could have achieved a complete victory without shedding a drop of blood.

But when the actual clash came, he discovered differences from fighting in the Shan Xuan Bing Mi Jing.

"Fighting in the Shan Xuan Bing Mi Jing does not truly endanger life, and the Qi body has no adrenaline..."

Li Yuan reflected; he was not a machine after all; when fighting for real, his blood would boil, and he could not remain completely rational.

But thinking of that Feng Feng Yuanqing, he felt somewhat relieved.

If he could not be completely rational, neither could his opponent; if Feng Feng Yuanqing had not been blinded by rage, he would not have been willing to take a hit just to strangle him.

"Fighting across realms is actually not accurate."

Li Yuan recalled tonight's battle.

Compared to Feng Feng Yuanqing, his internal Qi was thinner and his weapon inferior, but with the blessing of the Register of Weapons, his lightness skill, strength, and explosive power all surpassed the former.

Fighting is not a martial arts contest; realm is indeed important.

But ultimately, speed and strength decide everything.

"Perhaps this is why Old Han trained Yi Bai Xing to cultivate the dirty body? Old Han's Yi Bai Xing, although his speed cannot match me under the blessing of the Register of Weapons, his strength might even surpass it?"

Li Yuan pondered; he felt he had grasped the essence of combat.

"Speed and strength..."

Li Yuan somewhat understood Old Han's thinking.

When both speed and strength exceed the opponent, the outcome has long been decided.

It was like him and Feng Feng Yuanqing—if the latter hadn't had that Fire Dragon Sword, his first ambush would have settled victory and life or death, and decisively so.

"Hmm, speed and strength matter, but striking first matters too… and weapons matter as well."

He shut the doors and windows, then took out the Fire Dragon Sword; the dim room instantly lit up.

The Fire Dragon Sword was entirely crimson, its blade covered in patterns like dragon scales; when lightly shaken, its glow rippled like water, blazed like fire, and its appearance was superb.

As soon as the sword was drawn, the entire room's temperature surged, as if it had become a furnace.

"Truly a fine sword!"

Li Yuan gently caressed the blade.

As a master smith, he could instantly judge a weapon's quality; as he stroked it, he felt the Fire Dragon Sword's resistance—it had developed a faint sentience and was resisting him.

Yet this sentience was weak, far below the legendary weapons capable of choosing their masters.

Li Yuan gave it a few light shakes, and the faint resistance vanished.

"Beneath divine weapons, this is the pinnacle of blades; if nurtured with the Art of Weapon Spirit Cultivation for decades, it might naturally become a divine weapon."

Li Yuan swung a few sword flourishes, feeling his internal Qi flow perfectly smooth, with no stagnation—its material could perfectly accommodate internal Qi.

Under circumstances where divine weapons choose their masters and ordinary people cannot wield them, the value of a quasi-divine weapon might even surpass that of a divine weapon.

After all, not everyone has the fortune to earn a divine weapon's recognition.

From what he'd heard, there were many top masters in the martial world who had been famous for decades, yet still wielded only supreme-grade famous weapons; for most people, divine weapons existed only in legend.

Hss~

He lightly trembled his wrist, channeling internal Qi into the blade; instantly, a faint red sword aura flickered from the tip. Li Yuan tapped lightly—the floor split cleanly in two.

Another shake, and the stone slab turned to powder; "cutting metal and severing jade" couldn't describe it—even a famous-grade internal armor couldn't withstand a single stab of this aura.

"The sword aura is sharp, but not as sharp as the blade itself—perhaps I'm not proficient in sword techniques?"

Li Yuan played with it, unable to put it down.

He harbored a deep attachment to long swords; in his past life, as a wandering Daoist priest, he'd read many Daoist scriptures and deeply admired the ancient Daoist sword immortals.

Dressed in a Daoist robe, back bearing a precious sword, tassels fluttering in the wind.

This was far preferable to wearing coarse hemp clothes and carrying a heavy hammer.

"Huh!"

After a long while, Li Yuan finally sheathed the quasi-divine weapon. He pushed open the door—the rain had lessened, and the entire area buzzed with noise, as if word of the city's commotion had spread.

"Li Yuan!"

Not long after, Li Yuan heard Qiu Qiu Changying's voice; she hurried over, long spear in hand, long bow slung on her back:

"Something's happened!"

"Hmm?"

Li Yuan feigned surprise and pressed: "What happened?"

"The abbot of Fire Dragon Temple has been assassinated!"

Qiu Qiu Changying's expression was solemn: "Feng Feng Yuanqing has been assassinated, and the Fire Dragon Sword is gone. Fire Dragon Temple's people are frenziedly searching the city—Yue's weight has surrounded our garrison with troops…"

As she spoke, Qiu Qiu Changying turned and left; Li Yuan naturally quickened his pace to follow.

Beneath the rain, the Divine Guard troops were already lined up; over a thousand men on the training ground held weapons, standing ready; veteran soldiers formed their own ranks.

"Little Li, stick with us!"

Yu Jin hurried over, flanked by veteran soldiers in disguise, following Qiu Qiu Changying toward the garrison gate.

"Where is Shi Hong?!"

Far off, Li Yuan heard a roar.

Shi Hong?

Li Yuan froze for a moment, then his expression turned peculiar—did these people truly believe Li Li Yuanba was Shi Hong's alias?

"Yue's weight!"

Qiu Qiu Changying raised her bow and shot an arrow, pinning it before the garrison gate:

"Dare you storm my Divine Guard garrison? Do you want to die?"

"Qiu Qiu Changying!"

Outside the garrison gate, dozens held swords and blades; Yue's weight stood in the rain, his face filled with shock and fury.

Another expert?

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly; among the dozens behind Yue's weight was one wielding a supreme-grade famous weapon—this person was at least at the Fully Cultivated Meridian stage.

Ordinary Meridian cultivators had no right to wield supreme-grade famous weapons.

Deputy abbot of Fire Dragon Temple?

"Where is Shi Hong?!"

Yue's weight demanded again.

All the experts behind him wore cold, ruthless expressions, ready to strike at the slightest provocation.

"He's not here."

Qiu Qiu Changying's expression was icy; her bow drawn full, locked on Yue's weight: "Withdraw, or die!"

"You alone?"

Yue's weight's face darkened; just as he was about to speak, his expression suddenly changed.

Li Yuan turned back and saw Lord Master Gongyang Yu draw his sword and step forward, expressionless.

"Brother Feng was assassinated—I too feel deep sorrow. But my disciple is not in Dechang Prefecture; even if he were, how could he possibly have the ability to assassinate Brother Feng?"

Lord Master Gongyang Yu's gaze shifted to the figures behind Yue's weight:

"What do you think, Brother Zhang?"

Yue's weight Tian's expression shifted slightly.

Behind him, an old man with a sword on his back stepped out slowly, squinting slightly: "Master Master Gongyang, did you not leave the city? Why are you still in Fucheng?"

"What, does Brother Zhang suspect this old man?"

Lord Master Gongyang Yu's face darkened, his eyes looking very dangerous:

"Brother Zhang, do you not know why this old man is in Fucheng?"