Chapter 1181

Rise!

Gai Nie suddenly gripped the Yuan Hong Sword, and his sword strokes abruptly shifted.

The sword wind too changed from its earlier grand, sweeping manner to something cunning and vicious.

Every move not only failed to defend, but crossed past Fan Yuqi's heavy sword with bizarre, extreme danger, attacking straight at Fan Yuqi.

This sword art of his was precisely the Jingtian Eighteen Swords that Jing Ke had passed down!

Only because Gai Nie thought, since Fan Yuqi did not believe him, he might as well strike with Jing Ke's sword art.

He figured that once Fan Yuqi recognized Jing Ke's Jingtian Eighteen Swords, he might understand it had all been a misunderstanding.

This battle, then, could end right here.

Therefore every strike of Gai Nie's stopped just short of landing.

Just as he was about to pierce Fan Yuqi's vital point, he would hastily pull back his move and shift to another stroke to attack again.

Before long, the Jingtian Eighteen Swords were all unleashed one by one.

At first Fan Yuqi found it strange—why did this sword art look so familiar?

Stranger still, why could Gai Nie clearly wound him, yet held back?

Once all eighteen swords had been performed, Fan Yuqi finally realized with a start.

Was this not precisely the Jingtian Eighteen Swords, unique to his good friend Jing Ke?

"Jingtian Eighteen Swords? How could you know this sword art?"

When Jing Ke went to assassinate the Qin, Fan Yuqi had shared wine and merry talk with him.

After drinking too much, Jing Ke had demonstrated the Jingtian Eighteen Swords one by one before Fan Yuqi's very eyes.

At that time Fan Yuqi was nothing more than a general, a fugitive on the run, utterly down on his luck.

As for the Way of the Sword, he truly did not know it deeply.

Yet he could sense that the Jingtian Eighteen Swords were formidable, and so he praised them highly.

Pleased with himself, Jing Ke then revealed that half of the Jingtian Eighteen Swords came from a sword manual he had happened upon by chance.

The other half was composed of strange moves he had continually derived from the manual during his sparring sessions with others.

Though this sword art had only eighteen strokes,

if one practiced it onward, it was truly as if boundless.

It was only a pity that his trip to assassinate the Qin meant certain death.

From this day forth, this rare sword art would be lost to the world.

After hearing this, Fan Yuqi secretly committed the sword art to memory.

He also knew for certain that the Jingtian Eighteen Swords had absolutely no successor!

Now Gai Nie had publicly displayed this lost sword art—how could Fan Yuqi not be shocked?

Seeing him utterly stunned, Gai Nie could not help but halt even his heavy-sword assault.

At once he flipped backward in a backflip, withdrawing from Fan Yuqi's attack range.

Then, cradling the Yuan Hong Sword, he cupped his fist and said,

"General Fan, I too am a friend of Jing Ke's—this sword art was passed to me by his own hand!"

As for Jing Ke's death, Gai Nie too was heartbroken beyond words.

Yet on one side stood Qin Huang Ying Zheng, who treated him as both lord and friend, with utter sincerity toward him.

On the other side stood Jing Ke, a kindred spirit bonded over sword and wine, a true soulmate, and the friend who had passed down the Jingtian Eighteen Swords.

Whichever of the two was harmed, Gai Nie would carry the grief in his heart for a lifetime.

He had also been present at that assassination attempt.

But neither Ying Zheng nor Jing Ke had let Gai Nie act.

Watching Jing Ke die a wretched death, Gai Nie was unbearably pained, yet could only accept this reality.

Now that the past was brought up once more, that blood-soaked wound was torn open again.

Yet it left Gai Nie feeling a piercing agony!

Jing Ke, why did you insist on assassinating the Qin!

The Great Qin has unified the Seven States, standing mighty in the west of the Nine Provinces—what could possibly be wrong with that?

At least by today, the Seven States are one family, long past any distinction between them.

The common folk under its rule no longer suffer the ravages of war—is that not good?

Jing Ke had once answered: a true man has things he will do, and things he will not.

Thinking of this, Gai Nie sighed once more.

"You're lying! It can't be—he could never have passed this sword art to you."

To Fan Yuqi, the Jingtian Eighteen Swords had left an extremely deep impression.

When Jing Ke demonstrated them, he held nothing back.

Apart from the most crucial mental method, which he did not directly impart to Fan Yuqi, every single move of this sword art he had thoroughly broken down and shown to Fan Yuqi.

It could be said that the moves of the Jingtian Eighteen Swords were Fan Yuqi's very first lesson upon entering the martial path.

What Gai Nie now displayed was not only flawless, but in no way inferior to Jing Ke himself.

Clearly he had indeed obtained the mental method passed down by Jing Ke.

Yet if that were so, had he not wronged the man?

"Fan Yuqi, have you lost your mind!"

Cheng Jiao, seeing something was off and noticing Fan Yuqi had actually stopped, said,

"Back then Jing Ke died a wretched death inside the Lanchi Palace of the Qin court—the one who killed him was Gai Nie, and the one who collected his corpse was also Gai Nie.

"From his corpse, taking this so-called Xiao Jingtian's Eighteen Swords—what's so hard about that?"

"Right! Yes, you took the Eighteen Swords from Jing Ke's corpse! You fraud!"

After Cheng Jiao's "reminder," Fan Yuqi grew even more furious.

Thinking that Hearing Gai Nie had not only killed Jing Ke, but had also shamelessly and despicably looted the corpse.

At once, Fan Yuqi's sword momentum grew several degrees fiercer.

Every move no longer held back even a fraction of strength, and there was not a trace of defense either.

It could be said that every strike Fan Yuqi threw now carried the intent to perish together with Hearing Gai Nie.

Even so, Hearing Gai Nie's swordsmanship was no ordinary matter.

But facing this Fan Yuqi, whose cultivation was about the same as his, who also had demonic arts on his body, and who kept fighting desperately.

For a time, Hearing Gai Nie was hard-pressed, running for his life, and gradually falling into a disadvantage.

"Sigh! Shige really is too soft-hearted."

Seeing Hearing Gai Nie increasingly unable to hold on, and that in just a few more moves he was likely to be defeated.

Although Wei Zhuang, like Hearing Gai Nie, was unwilling to interfere in their duel.

But now, he could not sit by and watch his shige really get into trouble at Fan Yuqi's hands.

"Get out of the way!"

Wei Zhuang made up his mind and let out a furious roar.

The Shark Teeth Sword in his hand immediately blazed with sword-light.

Earlier he had been strolling along at ease, and his swordsmanship had been ordinary in power.

Now that he wanted to go reinforce Hearing Gai Nie, his swordsmanship immediately changed drastically.

How could these experts of Despair Shanzhuang withstand Wei Zhuang's swordsmanship once he got serious.

Added to that, because Fan Yuqi had wantonly killed several of them, everyone was in fear for their own safety.

Struck by Wei Zhuang's fierce sword moves, they were all so terrified their hearts and gallbladders split apart.

After losing several men, these experts of Despair Shanzhuang were nearly about to scatter in all directions.

If not for Cheng Jiao still watching the battle from the rear, they would have given out long ago.

Even so, once Wei Zhuang got serious, they could no longer surround and block him.

"Get out of the way!"

Wei Zhuang's Shark Teeth Sword once again struck out with vicious moves, cutting down one person blocking the path, and finally broke through these layer upon layer of encirclement.

Then, no longer lingering, he employed the Ghost Valley Body-Lifting Art and rushed swiftly toward Fan Yuqi to kill.

"Where do you think you're running…"

These experts of Despair Shanzhuang had long since had their courage shattered by Wei Zhuang.