Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Nameless
The Young Manor Lord truly wasn’t intervening.
Not only was he not intervening, but he was also watching with great relish.
His eyes were fixed on the swordswoman in white, never leaving her for a moment.
It even made Jiang Ran start to wonder, ’Could these two have deliberately set this up, hoping to get this whole group killed here?’
Of course, the thought was fleeting.
Judging by the awe these men held for the Young Manor Lord, and the martial prowess he had just demonstrated, he wouldn’t need to rely on others to kill them.
’If this goes on, this group is really going to be wiped out...’
Jiang Ran tilted his head. He had no intention of jumping in to save them.
These men were ruthless and certainly not a righteous bunch.
He didn’t know them, so there was really no need for him to intervene.
Li Tianxin’s immediate crisis had passed. He was now fighting amidst the crowd and didn’t need Jiang Ran to meddle.
In that case, it was best to just wait and see how things unfolded.
His gaze shifted again, turning to Dao Wuming.
The man had stood up by now. He had rolled the gazetteer in his hands into a tube and was holding it as he quietly observed the scene.
However, his gaze was mostly on Li Tianxin.
It seemed he was quite concerned about the safety of this "fellow Daoist."
Just then, a cold snort suddenly echoed across the field.
The sound wasn’t loud, but it pierced the eardrums of everyone present like a needle.
The Young Manor Lord finally tore his gaze away from the swordswoman in white. He saw a figure leap from the trees, instantly flashing into the crowd.
His footwork was complex. The area was crowded and chaotic, yet nothing could hinder him in the slightest.
Weaving through the gaps, he reached the swordswoman in white in the blink of an eye. His right arm was gone, leaving only an empty sleeve.
With a shrug of his shoulder, the sleeve coiled like a snake, tightly wrapping around the sword in the woman’s hand.
The woman’s brow furrowed slightly. The Sword Qi from her hand surged as she tried to shred the sleeve.
But the newcomer gave her no chance, thrusting out his left palm with a whistling force.
Jiang Ran recognized him at a glance. The one who attacked was the old man from the ruined temple.
At the same time, he began to calculate how the woman might counter.
’In my opinion, she could go all in: first, shred the sleeve, then sever his arm.’
’But the slightest delay would mean taking the hit first, which would be a complete loss.’
’Her second option is to take his palm strike head-on!’
’If it were me, that’s what I would choose.’
’My Inner Strength is nearly a century deep. I’ve never been afraid of a contest of power.’
’Beyond that, her final option is to abandon the sword and retreat.’
’But based on her style, her entire cultivation seems to be channeled into that sword. If she abandons it, I doubt she’ll be able to escape today’s situation.’
These three thoughts flashed through his mind like lightning.
But the woman chose none of them. She brought two fingers together like a sword and jabbed.
WOOOOM!!!
Sword Qi condensed three inches before her fingers, indescribably sharp.
The old man’s expression flickered. With a SWISH, the air stirred, and the surrounding raindrops began to move with his inner energy, forming a strange curtain of rain around him.
It seemed to be on the verge of boiling.
In that fleeting instant, the forces contained within the finger-jab and the palm-strike collided.
Palm force and Sword Qi scattered in all directions.
Yet they couldn’t quite make full contact, a gap of at least half a foot remaining between them!
The stalemate lasted for only two or three breaths before the old man’s long eyebrows twitched. A red mark had appeared on his palm.
He immediately snorted coldly. A dull THUD came from under his feet as he pushed out with great force, sending the woman stumbling back three to five steps.
The longsword in her hand also freed itself from the old man’s sleeve.
The old man stood his ground, but the look on his face as he stared at the woman was grim.
Given his age and status, this exchange could be considered a major loss.
He couldn’t help but nod repeatedly.
"Excellent, excellent. It’s true what they say: a new generation of talent always rises to surpass the last."
"The position of Sword Head of this generation’s Danyang Sword Sect must belong to you!"
’Danyang Sword Sect?’
Jiang Ran thought for a moment and recalled hearing this name not long ago at the Heroic Assembly.
’The Dao Yi Sect and the Danyang Sword Sect... they should both be sects that descended from the Righteous Heart Sect.’
’This woman is actually from the Danyang Sword Sect?’
’Her skills are truly extraordinary.’
The woman’s face was like frost. Her gaze remained placid from beginning to end. Looking at the old man before her, she said softly:
"Who are you?"
The old man’s face darkened again, and he gave a light chuckle.
"You are not yet qualified to know!"
As he said this, he suddenly flipped his palm over. The center of his palm was a startling crimson.
In an instant, that red glow seemed to spread from his palm throughout his entire body.
His whole body seemed to be shrouded within a blazing sun!
The surrounding temperature suddenly soared, causing the rainy mist to steam and evaporate.
Seeing this, Li Tianxin was stunned.
"The Fiery Sun Divine Skill! You’re the Yang Monarch, Dugu Yu!"
"This youngster has some sharp eyes!"
Dugu Yu glanced at Li Tianxin, then his figure suddenly shot forward, heading straight for the woman in white.
The woman in white was expressionless, but a glint of sword light faintly appeared in her eyes.
Her inner energy condensed to a point. She held her sword horizontally, then thrust it out in a sudden jab. Her body followed the blade, moving like a streaking shuttle crossing the sun.
In an instant, she was before that ’blazing sun’, but the tip of her sword was blocked by a current of Gang Qi, unable to advance an inch.
Not only that, but the longsword in her hand began to glow red at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if it were about to melt.
Seeing this, Jiang Ran couldn’t help but sit up straight.
’I know that besides this Yang Monarch, Dugu Yu, there’s also that nimble old woman.’
Just as this thought crossed his mind, a light laugh was heard.
"Dugu Yu, it’s been years. You’ve really outdone yourself, coming all the way out here to bully a little girl."
The voice was in the crowd, yet in the space of a single sentence, it shifted between eighteen different locations.
When the last word fell, the voice was precisely behind the woman in white.
A man in colorful clothes, sporting a pair of dark circles under his eyes, was seen slowly extending a palm to press against the back of the woman in white.
The woman in white’s body shuddered. The red glow on her sword was instantly forced away.
This was immediately followed by a deafening BOOM!
Sword Qi and a wave of scorching inner energy instantly radiated in all directions.
It forced everyone nearby back. The highly skilled ones retreated three to five steps, while the weaker ones fell right to the ground.
The weakest of them spat up blood, already heavily injured.
Dugu Yu flicked his sleeve and looked up at the person behind the woman in white, seemingly unable to recognize him.
After a moment, he spoke tentatively:
"You’re... the Nameless Scholar?"
"It’s been many years. Is Brother Dugu well?"
Dao Wuming cupped his fist slightly and glanced at Li Tianxin again.
"Fellow Daoist, we meet again."
Li Tianxin’s brow furrowed slightly, but he didn’t respond.
His stone-faced expression was no less frosty than that of the woman in white.
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