Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

Chapter 58: Chapter 58: They’ve Come

Qingyi ignored everyone else, instead looking toward Jiang Ran, who was facing off against Sun Dashan and the Jade Mountain People:

"Young Master, the antidote you gave is truly potent."

"It’s passable, I suppose."

Jiang Ran glanced at him.

"I’ll leave Zuo Kuangge to you for now. After I deal with these two, I’ll come back and kill him."

Li Tianxin sneered.

"As if—"

With that, the saber in their hand shot up, and they lunged at Zuo Kuangge.

Qingyi smiled, strode forward, and unleashed his fists. Waves of force shattered the air as he extended his arms, his punches as swift as the wind!

Jiang Ran was momentarily speechless. When he looked up again, the folding fan in the Jade Mountain People’s hand was tearing through the air, arriving with a fierce gust.

At the same time, dozens of sharp glints flew out from under Sun Dashan’s tattered cloak, rising from all directions to strike at Jiang Ran from every angle.

Within Feiyun Stronghold, the Jade Mountain People and Sun Dashan held the third and fifth seats, respectively.

Everyone called the Jade Mountain People the Carefree Immortal.

The nickname was likely a later addition, since ’Mountain People’ itself already carries the connotation of ’Immortal’.

His peerless techniques all resided in the iron-ribbed fan he wielded.

Its ribs were iron, its surface a razor’s edge. It was lethal whether thrown or used up close.

Jiang Ran tilted his saber, its edge clashing with the iron-ribbed fan, instantly sending a shower of sparks flying.

The iron-ribbed fan didn’t fall to the ground; instead, it flew back and landed in the Jade Mountain People’s palm once more.

The Jade Mountain People flicked his wrist, snapping the fan shut. He darted forward, using the closed fan like a Judge’s Brush, aiming for acupoints with an uncommon sharpness.

In response, Jiang Ran’s feet continuously shifted through the Celestial Nine Steps.

This footwork, a supreme art of the Red Maple Ye family, was based on the sixty-four hexagram positions.

Jiang Ran had only recently begun to learn it, but his talent was extraordinary. In this short time, he had already integrated the footwork seamlessly with his own martial arts.

As his figure flickered through multiple afterimages, all the hidden weapons thrown by Sun Dashan struck nothing but empty air.

He looked up again to see the Jade Mountain People’s iron-ribbed fan arriving at a major acupoint on his chest.

It was too late to strike with his saber. Jiang Ran shot out his left hand, his five fingers forming a peak-like claw. With an ethereal grasping motion, the faint cry of a crane seemed to echo in the air.

The Jade Mountain People’s expression changed. He recognized the extraordinariness of this claw technique. From a distance, he could feel several acupoints on his arm—Yangxi, Waiguan, Quchi—all fall under the range of those five fingers.

SNAP! He instantly flicked the fan open and spun it in his hand. WHOOSH! With that one spin, the area covered by the fan became impenetrable; not even a splash of water could get through.

Jiang Ran slightly raised his palm, extended his fingers, and aimed for the Tianjing acupoint instead.

But the Jade Mountain People snapped his iron-ribbed fan shut once more and backhanded it toward Jiang Ran’s Shenmen acupoint.

This entire exchange sounds complicated in the telling, but in reality, they had already traded several blows in the blink of an eye.

Just as his Shenmen point was about to be struck, Jiang Ran advanced instead of retreating. He surged forward, a demonic, frenzied claw strike aimed directly at the Jade Mountain People’s chest.

If this claw attack landed, the Jade Mountain People would be gravely wounded, if not killed.

And at that very moment, SWISH SWISH SWISH, the sound of something cutting through the air came again, one after another.

Without needing to turn, Jiang Ran knew it was Sun Dashan attacking from the side again. Unsurprised, he swept his saber behind him in a backhanded motion. With a series of crisp CLINKs, all the hidden weapons were knocked to the ground.

Saved from danger, the Jade Mountain People retreated several steps.

Jiang Ran thrust out his left hand again. The Jade Mountain People wanted only to escape and regroup, but why would Jiang Ran give him that chance?

He could only flick his iron-ribbed fan open to meet Jiang Ran’s five fingers with its surface.

There was a loud BANG.

An immense force struck him, and the Jade Mountain People stumbled back a good fifteen feet. He looked down to see that his iron-ribbed fan was already bent out of shape.

Jiang Ran’s feet shifted with the Celestial Nine Steps, but this time he abandoned the Jade Mountain People and went straight for Sun Dashan.

’He’d figured it out. This man is using hidden weapons to tie me down. Trying to force my way past him to kill the Jade Mountain People won’t be easy.’

’In that case, I’ll kill Sun Dashan first, and then finish off the Jade Mountain People.’

His footwork was fast, but the saber in his hand was faster.

As Jiang Ran’s blade technique shifted, what seemed like a thousand hands rushed out from beneath Sun Dashan’s black robe like a hurricane to meet the attack.

However, the force of his defense landed on nothing but air.

Jiang Ran’s nine blade variations prioritized speed, supplemented by unpredictability.

The path of his blade was often inconceivable. It would start moving from left to right, only for the strike to suddenly descend from above.

All of Sun Dashan’s power was spent on empty air. When he looked up again, the sharp edge of the blade was already falling upon him.

Then came a resonant CLANG!

As the blade’s energy dissipated, his black robe tore with the sound of ripping silk, its fragments scattering in all directions and revealing his true form.

It was a hunched old man, bound within an iron frame.

All over his body, iron implements were embedded, connecting him to various metal components on the frame.

It was a bizarre and grotesque sight.

"What is this thing?"

Jiang Ran was dumbfounded. He never thought that such a bizarre creature existed in the martial world, something that seemed to be created through a combination with the Mechanical Technique.

It wasn’t just Jiang Ran; everyone present was seeing Sun Dashan’s true form for the first time.

Naturally, they couldn’t help but start whispering among themselves.

Sun Dashan’s expression remained unchanged. With a movement of his foot, he activated some unknown mechanism, and the iron frame shot backward.

Its design was bizarre, and its movement was even more wondrous. No matter the terrain, the frame remained perfectly stable, moving without the slightest jolt as if on flat ground.

’This is absurd,’ Jiang Ran thought. ’Even the best shock absorption isn’t this effective.’

Done gaping at the spectacle, he didn’t wait for the Jade Mountain People to charge. He circulated his internal energy, and a continuous HUMMM began to build.

His saber slashed out, descending in a flash.

In an instant, a sliver of blade aura flew from the edge of his saber.

Energy condensed into a single thread, the blade traveled in silence, crossing a thousand miles... enough to startle ghosts and gods!!

Sun Dashan’s eyes went wide as saucers. He only felt a flash of brilliant light, and then his entire body froze.

KRRR-CH-CH... The entire iron frame was sliced apart diagonally, and along with Sun Dashan’s somewhat shriveled corpse, it slowly collapsed to the ground...

And at that exact moment, a CLATTER was heard.

Jiang Ran instinctively followed the sound with his eyes and saw the Head Scholar, who had been writing furiously, had at some point dropped his brush.

He was staring blankly at Jiang Ran, his eyes looking as if he had seen a ghost.

"???"

Jiang Ran couldn’t help but feel puzzled, but with important matters at hand, he didn’t have time for questions.

He looked up again, his gaze falling upon the Jade Mountain People.

The Jade Mountain People’s face drained of all color.

’Just where did this monster come from?’

’In just a few moves, he’s killed nearly all of my brothers from Feiyun Stronghold.’

He took an instinctive step back.

"You... You stay away from me!!"

Though his white robes had looked dashing when he first appeared, at this moment, he looked utterly wretched.

He pointed a finger at Jiang Ran.

"If you stop now, I can still put in a good word with the Chief. Seeing that you’re a man of talent, he might spare your life."

"If you still don’t know what’s good for you..."

The Jade Mountain People had just spoken these words when a RUMBLE, RUMBLE began to vibrate through the air.

He was instantly overjoyed.

"They’re finally here!!"

Jiang Ran, however, raised an eyebrow and glanced at the sky in surprise.

’What’s going on? How did they get here so fast?’