Chapter 92

Recalling how, when he had met Wu Wu Ya Zi, none of his prepared words had even been needed—the man had simply chosen him as his inheritor on the spot.

How similar was this occasion?

Jiang Sishui even suspected he had activated the most unsolvable "protagonist halo."

Otherwise, how could he be this lucky?

After running a good distance and estimating that Huang Yaoshi would no longer catch up, he finally set Huang Rong down.

Huang Rong glanced at the direction and asked knowingly, "This is Leigu Mountain—what are you going back for?"

Before Jiang Sishui could answer, Huang Rong put on a look of sudden realization: "Ah, I get it now—you have an old flame up on the mountain, don't you?"

"Let me guess—is it that Miss Zhao from the Central Plains Escort Agency, or that Miss Wang from Taihu?"

Huang Rong's beautiful eyes, curved into crescents, flashed with a trace of mischief—she wanted to see how Jiang Sishui would answer this truly lethal question.

Jiang Sishui was indeed somewhat caught off guard, but before he could open his mouth to speak, a sudden premonition of danger arose in his heart!

Cicada Sense!

Jiang Sishui's expression changed; he swept Huang Rong into his arms, deployed "Lingbo Weixu," his foot stepped west, yet his body eerily appeared in the northeast position, dodging a claw that had struck from ambush.

A surprised exclamation rang out, followed by the clear sound of a finger flicking against metal.

Immediately after, the metal snapped, and half a sword blade clattered to the ground.

Gazing at the layer upon layer of afterimages before him, the attacker let out a cold laugh.

The next instant, a gale rose violently, the heavens shifted without warning! Above.

"101 Innate Astral Qi? You so-called Celestial Man are no good!"

Jiang Sishui's agile form stalled, his whole body as if mired in mud, and the layered afterimages drawn out by the excessive speed of "Lingbo Weixu" likewise dissipated.

At the same time, he felt as if the entire world were working against him—repelling and squeezing him, even trying to bind him in place.

To manipulate celestial phenomena with human strength, borrowing the power of heaven and earth for one's own use—this was the signature method of a Celestial Man, and also their greatest reliance for crushing Grandmasters.

The attacker was a Celestial Man!

With a hasty glance, Jiang Sishui clearly made out the other's appearance.

As expected, it was none other than Zhu Wushi, whom he had been guarding against all along!

"Can't run anymore."

Though startled, Jiang Sishui did not panic; knowing that "Sun Shadow Golden Wheel" was bound to be triggered, a clever idea struck him.

He was seen stopping his body to stand sideways, his upper half leaning back to face the sky, both hands—one above, one below—forming a posture of worshipping the moon.

"In―nate―As―tral―Qi!"

The moment his solemn and grand voice fell, a protective light barrier unfurled outside his body, countless light-shadows and currents of air flowing across its surface, forcibly blocking the claw that came grasping!

That claw-shadow stalled, then transformed from claw to palm, and again into a fist—each blow heavier and more ferocious than the last.

Yet no matter how his onslaught intensified, that protective light barrier simply did not budge, like a sea-calming divine needle, so firm it was despair-inducing.

Zhu Wushi gave a cold snort, his right fist clenched, and delivered a punch that seemed slow but was in truth swift, slamming down viciously!

This punch carried wind and clouds with it, as if pouring out the power of this small patch of heaven and earth around them, striking together in one blow, vowing to shatter the protective light barrier in a single strike!

Unfortunately, he was still disappointed.

A punch unleashing eighty to ninety percent of his strength landed, yet that protective light barrier did not move in the slightest, as if mocking him—an ant trying to shake a tree, not knowing his own limits.

Zhu Wushi finally stopped his hand, his face ashen, his eyes grave as he looked toward Jiang Sishui.

"Innate Astral Qi? The 'Innate Astral Qi' of the Supreme Alliance of Wu Zhou? What is your relationship with Guan Yutian?" Zhu Wushi blurted out the question instinctively.

At the same time, his heart was filled with doubt and incomprehension.

In Wu Zhou there was a force called the Supreme Alliance; its leader, Guan Yutian, was a Celestial Man expert at the Martial Dao Golden Core realm, and his signature martial art was "Innate Astral Qi"!

Although Zhu Wushi had never seen Guan Yutian in person, as one of the overlords of Wu Zhou, the Supreme Alliance's files were naturally kept in the archives of the Shanzhuang of the Protecting Dragon.

According to Zhu Wushi's analysis, "Innate Astral Qi" was absolutely a sacred canon.

But this art actually allowed a Grandmaster to withstand an attack from a Celestial Man like him—wasn't that too outrageous?!

Could it be that because this was a purely defensive martial art, its resistance capability was so strong?

At this moment, a thick cloud of doubt arose in Zhu Wushi's heart.

Either the "Innate Astral Qi" this kid was using was not the same as Guan Yutian's, or he had underestimated Guan Yutian.

Jiang Sishui slowly "withdrew his skill," and the protective light barrier likewise dissipated.

Zhu Wushi's gaze flickered, his palm slightly tightened, but in the end he did not strike again.

It was simple—Jiang Sishui was on guard against him; the moment he moved, "Lingbo Weixu" would flash him away.

To restrict "Lingbo Weixu," one had no choice but to borrow the power of heaven and earth again, and the unity of man and heaven required a little time—Jiang Sishui could perfectly repeat the same trick.

Doing so would, apart from losing face for nothing, bring him not the slightest benefit.

Jiang Sishui's left arm encircled Huang Rong's waist, putting on a guarded appearance—genuine and feigned mixed together, solid and void intermingled—making it impossible for Zhu Wushi to read his true depths.

Huang Rong did not struggle either, quietly watching the two of them in their standoff, very cooperative.

Without answering Zhu Wushi's question, Jiang Sishui said coldly, "Do I have some grudge with you, Lord Marquis?"

"You recognize me?" Zhu Wushi's dignified little eyes narrowed slightly.

When he had struck this time, he had fully expected to take his quarry with ease, and so had not tried to conceal himself.

Yet the fact that Jiang Sishui had recognized his identity at first glance truly astonished him.

One had to know that Zhu Wushi was a marquis of the Great Ming; the name "Iron-Blooded Divine Marquis" was certainly imposing, but outside the five provinces of the Great Ming, his influence would plummet like a cliff.

And within the five provinces of the Great Ming, the vast majority of people had only heard his name and never seen his face; yet now, here he was in the foreign land of Suzhou, recognized by a Mao Touxiaozi who ought not to have seen much of the world.

The information revealed within this was well worth pondering and considering.

"Recognize you? How could I not recognize you?"

Jiang Sishui looked at the broken sword in his right hand and said lightly, "If I didn't recognize you, what would I do if I went looking for the wrong person later?"

His expression showed no ripple, but his heart was far from calm.

Because the gap between a Grandmaster and a Heavenly Being exceeded his imagination somewhat.

The sword he had reinforced with true qi and struck back with just now had actually had its blade flicked and snapped by Zhu Wushi!

Though this was partly because the other's Finger Art was no mean feat, it also revealed just how vast the gulf between them was...

If Zhu Wushi did not even need the Unity of Heaven and Man, he still could not be his opponent; perhaps he could only rely on the agility of "Lingbo Weixbu" to keep circling and avoid defeat.

"Heavenly Being..."

The slight self-satisfaction Jiang Sishui had felt at ascending to Grandmaster overnight vanished in an instant.

Hearing Jiang Sishui's words, a cold glint flashed through Zhu Wushi's narrow, elongated eyes.

The Xiaoyao Sect — Zhu Wushi was not afraid.

Although yesterday Jiang Sishui, at the tender age of twenty, had overpowered several Grandmasters with his skill, and added to that the fearsome reputation of the "Zhenlong Phantom Array," many people had been cowed by the mysterious Xiaoyao Sect.

But he had noticed one detail — Ding Chunqiu.

If the Xiaoyao Sect were truly so formidable, would it have failed to eliminate even a single Grandmaster traitor?

Suxinghe had even been forced to feign deafness and muteness.

Afterwards, as the heroes descended the mountain, Zhu Wushi observed covertly and discovered that members of the Longya Sect had come down the mountain to purchase goods needed for a funeral.

Then who had died?

Combining this with the sudden sharp drop in the power of the "Zhenlong Phantom Array," Zhu Wushi had his answer.

And Jiang Sishui, being a member of the Xiaoyao Sect, held a seniority equal to Suxinghe's, yet none of the "Eight Friends of Hangu" knew him — this meant he had joined the sect very recently.

On top of that, the night before last quite a few people had seen Jiang Sishui go up the mountain and even break into the phantom array...

Zhu Wushi lined up the timing of all the various clues, and combined it with the information he had gathered, and quickly arrived at a conclusion —

Suxinghe's Master had died, the phantom array's power had consequently diminished greatly, and on his deathbed he had transmitted his cultivation to Jiang Sishui, allowing the latter to ascend to the heavens in a single step!

3.7 Nowadays, the strongest person in the Xiaoyao Sect was probably Jiang Sishui, this Grandmaster.

In the eyes of others, a Grandmaster was naturally unattainably lofty, but to a Heavenly Being, in truth he was nothing more than this.

However, Jiang Sishui's "turtle shell" and his hidden identity and background gave Zhu Wushi cause for wariness.

At a flicker of thought, Zhu Wushi was not annoyed in the slightest; instead he broke into a smile: "My young friend has likely misunderstood."

"This Marquis's current journey through the various provinces is to seek a talented person to take up the final position among the four great secret agents of my Shanzhuang."

"Just now, seeing my young friend's extraordinary abilities, I could not resist testing them — it was indeed this Marquis's impulsiveness."

"Now that the misunderstanding is cleared, I wonder if my young friend might be willing to take up the post of Yellow-Number-One secret agent of the Shanzhuang?"

Jiang Sishui looked at the affably smiling Zhu Wushi, and did not expose him either, saying: "Divine Marquis, how about we make a deal?"

102 Hidden Barbs — The Cornered Zhu Wushi

Seeing that Jiang Sishui did not pick up the thread but changed the subject, Zhu Wushi gave a faint smile and said generously: "Whatever my young friend wants, feel free to speak it out. What this Marquis can give, he will certainly not stint."