Chapter 314: Chapter 314: Somewhat Interesting
The dark patterns on the head of the Shaking Mountain Sea-Suppressing Hammer suddenly flared, intertwining with Powerful Qi to form a crimson-black Gang Wind. The air in its path was compressed into visible, ring-like ripples.
BOOM!
The instant the hammer fell, the entire tavern’s wooden beams trembled, and the bronze bells on the eaves rang out in a sudden clamor, like a startled flock of crows taking flight.
The carved screen in the third-floor private room was overturned by the shockwave. Bowls, plates, and wine pots crashed to the ground with a clatter. From the adjacent "Celestial Character C" room, a woman’s shriek rang out: "The beams are collapsing!"
In the hallway, a tray slipped from a waiter’s hands. A tureen of scalding snow frog soup spilled across the green bricks, sending up a cloud of white steam.
Before the hammer even arrived, the ferocious wind pressure had already torn the Scholar’s table to splinters. Wood chips mixed with torn pages from several poetry books filled the air.
The companion beside the Scholar recoiled violently. His hair crown was swept off by the gale and sent flying down to the second-floor atrium, causing a Mortal Wanderer who was just raising his chopsticks to rise in anger. "Who is fighting up there?!"
It startled a wealthy merchant at the next table so badly that he dove under his own table, head in his hands, upending a platter of sliced sea bass.
As the Scholar desperately raised his longsword to block, the face of the hammer began to hum on its own. Earth Vein Power flowed through it, once again unleashing ripples in the air that were clearly visible to the naked eye.
From outside the hole in the wall, the round-faced disciple’s yell could be heard: "Senior Brother Xu, you’re dirtying your hands! Why not let your junior brother handle this!"
These Taoist Sect disciples naturally understood that whoever fought the hardest right now would surely catch Xu Yunfan’s eye.
The moment hammer met sword, the blade cracked inch by inch as if struck by lightning. Shards shot out and embedded themselves in the pillars, frightening a cat perched on the railing so much that its fur stood on end before it leaped into the backyard.
The sleeves on the Scholar’s arms exploded into fluttering tatters, revealing the Sword Pavilion’s protective Qi Force underneath his skin, which was already dense with bloody marks. The Mortal Wanderers peering in from the window gasped in shock.
"The Sword Pavilion’s Golden Jade Sword Body can’t even block a single hammer strike?!"
The aftershock swept out, causing spiderweb cracks to appear on all four walls of the adjacent private room. The bronze bells on the eaves CLANGED chaotically before shattering into dust.
The hammer’s momentum was not yet spent. The wind from the strike swirled the wood chips into a thirty-foot vortex above the Scholar’s head, and then more than half of the Changfeng Tavern’s third floor collapsed with a deafening roar.
Amidst the muffled sound of breaking beams and pillars, tiles and rubble rained down, sending the diners below scrambling for cover with their hands over their heads.
A screen in a second-floor private room was blown away by the shockwave, revealing a table laden with delicacies. The sliced sea bass was still trembling on its platter, but the wine pot had already rolled to the floor. Amber-colored liquor seeped into the cracks, mixing with wood splinters and forming murky bubbles.
Xu Yunfan stood with a hammer in one hand, its face still humming. The aftershocks from the Earth Vein power caused the floorboards beneath his feet to splinter and crack.
He glanced down at the pair of hammers. The dark patterns on their faces rippled like the tide, and a faint hum from the Earth Veins emanated from them.
He hadn’t used his full strength in that "Five Peaks Fall" technique just now, but the innate Mountain Soul Power of the Shaking Mountain Sea-Suppressing Hammer had still shaken the third-floor private room enough to make the beams tilt and the bricks crack.
Wood chips and porcelain shards rained down, and from below, the Shopkeeper’s heart-wrenching wail could be faintly heard: "My hundred-year-old zitan wood screen..."
...
His fingertips lightly brushed over the lingering ripples on the hammer’s handle. ’The wind-up should be as light as a feather on water, and the strike should land with the might of heavenly thunder,’ he mused. ’But this commotion... it’s more like a brute swinging a woodsman’s axe.’
Suddenly, the round-faced disciple’s stammering cry came from downstairs: "S-Senior Brother Xu! The Sword Pavilion’s scabbard is still stuck in the floor tiles..."
Before he could finish, the Sword Scabbard CRACKED and disintegrated into dust.
Xu Yunfan couldn’t help but shake his head. This pair of Divine Weapons had yet to fully acknowledge him as their master. During the clash, they had spontaneously drawn upon the Earth Veins, turning three parts of his strength into twelve parts of power.
The heavens could bear witness that this was his first day in Jade Capital City, and he hadn’t wanted to cause trouble. That was why he had struck so lightly.
In the dust and smoke, the Scholar sat slumped amidst the ruins. His Hair-Binding Jade Crown was long since shattered, and his disheveled hair was matted with wood chips. A fragment of his sword was embedded deep in a nearby elm pillar, and the Protective Jade Pendant that had hung from his sword tassel was now nothing but dust.
The Mortal Wanderers peering in from the window were dead silent. Many observant eyes glanced over, taking in both the Taoist Sect waist tokens on Xu Yunfan’s group and the man sitting on the floor.
Xu Yunfan let out a soft sigh and did not press his advantage. The moment his fingers released the hammer’s handle, the pair of Shaking Mountain Sea-Suppressing Hammers slid along the Profound Steel Mechanism on his waist and CLICKED into their slots.
The hammerheads pointed diagonally toward the ground behind him, their dark-green bodies catching the twilight as two cold glints of light, like the fangs of a hibernating Fierce Beast.
The Profound Steel Belt cinching his waist dipped slightly but didn’t sway in the slightest. The three-hundred-jin pair of deadly weapons seemed as if they were a part of his body.
He had crafted this Mechanical Box for his belt using the Celestial Craft Forging Technique. Back in the Celestial Craft Cave, he could have had the disciples of the Celestial Craft Department make every single component. Unfortunately, here in the Taoist Sect, he’d had to painstakingly craft each one by hand, a process that took him half a day to complete.
"Who gave you the courage to say those things?"
The Scholar grinned, a line of crimson blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. But his face showed an undisguised, almost exhilarated smile, and his eyes held no fear.
"I am Jiang Jingguo, a True Disciple of the Sword Pavilion. Do you dare to kill me?"
Seeing this, Xu Yunfan’s expression remained unchanged, not betraying the slightest emotion.
This trip had been a spur-of-the-moment decision; there was no pattern to his movements.
He had only chosen the Changfeng Restaurant because this chain, with branches in every province of the Great Zhou, was the most conspicuous. It reminded him of what had happened back in Beiye City in Qingzhou, which was why he had come up.
Hearing Jiang Jingguo’s arrogant words, the round-faced disciple beside him became instantly furious, a cold light flashing in his eyes.
He slammed his right hand onto his sword hilt, drawing the blade three inches from its sheath. The sword’s body reflected the tavern lights with a sinister, cold gleam. The floorboards beneath his feet cracked into a spiderweb pattern from his Hidden Force.
The instant he lunged forward, Xu Yunfan’s left hand clamped down on his shoulder and neck like an iron pincer. The immense power brought his explosive charge to a dead stop.
"Don’t be hasty."
Xu Yunfan’s voice wasn’t loud, but it made the round-faced disciple’s ears ring.
The Strength flowing from his five fingers formed chains within the other man’s body.
The round-faced disciple felt his entire right arm burn as if submerged in lava. The ringing longsword in its scabbard fell silent. Cold sweat trickled from his temples. This seemingly casual suppression by the chief True Disciple left him, a Marrow Cleansing Realm Martial Artist, unable to muster even a shred of strength.
Don’t be fooled by his sycophantic behavior around Xu Yunfan. One must understand that here in Jade Capital City, within the Taoist Sect’s residence, he was considered the number three man.
The third floor instantly became so quiet that you could hear the creaking of the load-bearing wooden beams.
Xu Yunfan tapped the round-faced disciple’s shoulder twice with his fingertips. A pulse of Hidden Force pushed him back to his original spot, but the footprints he left on the green bricks were now half an inch deep.
This effortless display of control was far more intimidating than a direct attack would have been.
Xu Yunfan’s eyelids drooped slightly, his gaze sweeping almost imperceptibly over the round-faced disciple’s forced smile.
This Taoist Sect disciple, named Chen Hong, had been waiting on him hand and foot ever since he had stepped into the residence. His attentiveness was almost deliberate. When handing over a sweat towel, his fingertips would "accidentally" probe the strength of his physical body. When leading the way, he would always slow down half a step at corners to observe his footing.
But now, that seemingly casual glance made the hairs on the back of Chen Hong’s neck stand on end.
The plastered-on smile on his face froze. The muscles at the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably twice before he quickly lowered his head to hide the panic flashing in his eyes.
"S-Senior Brother Xu..."
Chen Hong’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he forced out the words, his voice as dry and raspy as if it had been scraped with sandpaper.
