Book 4 Chapter 4 – The Amazing Woman Qingxuan

Ouyang Xiyi took three steps forward, shortening the distance between he and Ba Fenghan by two zhang.

His imposing manner as he stepped, combined with his majestic-as-the-mountain build and his sharp eyes, naturally highlighted his irresistible presence.

A faint smile was still hanging out of the corner of Ba Fenghan’s mouth; he flung his hands, which were originally behind his back, out of the robe, separately grasping the saber handle and the sword hilt, so that nobody knew whether he was going to use saber or sword, or perhaps the combination of saber and sword.

As soon as Ouyang Xiyi stopped, he threw his head backwards and let out a long laugh. Immediately it was as if the entire huge hall was rustling with shudder.

‘Qiang!’ Ba Fenghan pulled the saber in his right hand out a little, instantly it produced a whiff of unparalleled fierce saber qi, opposing Ouyang Xiyi’s overwhelming aura.

Right this instant, Ba Fenghan’s saber left its scabbard, almost like a rainbow as he took the initiative to attack.

At the same instant, Ouyang Xiyi also pulled his sword to attack.

Two streams of formless, noiseless sword qi and saber qi, just before the sword and saber made contact, the two weapons wound around each other before they finally collided. It was only then did a genuinely good and hard ringing noise reverberated across the hall.

Ba Fenghan suddenly floated backward, and stood holding his saber across in front of his body.

He still looked calm and at ease as before, there was even a smile on his face, giving the impression that he was not inferior in any respect to this bold and powerful senior martial art master’s tiger-like body as he stood steadily. Hence other people could not possibly think that he was being pushed back by the opponent.

Ouyang Xiyi was standing motionless, still as imposing as before, but the upper part of his body swayed occasionally, while there was a disbelief look on his eyes.

None of the guests was not emotionally shaken. Nobody would ever imagined that this twenty something Ba Fenghan was able to take Ouyang Xiyi’s overwhelming strength head-on.

Under the stare of the guests, Ba Fenghan threw his head backwards and let out a long laugh, “Good sword! I never expected that I, Ba Fenghan, have just stepped into the Central Plains, and already met a martial art expert. Thank you for the advice!”

As soon as his voice fell, unexpectedly he took the initiative again to attack.

Wang Shichong and Wang Tong exchanged glances; not only they could see the astonishment in each other’s heart, they could also see the murderous intention growing in each other’s mind.

If they did not get rid of this kid, he might grow into another Bi Xuan.

Ouyang Xiyi also had the same thought as they did. He was even clearer that Ba Fenghan would be Tujue’s most powerful figure after Bi Xuan. At this age he had already reached such an unfathomable level or martial art skill. Plus from the way he treated the guards, he knew that this kid’s character was ruthless. If this kind of man committed evil, the disaster he created would be greater.

Once he made up his mind, his hand moved. Ouyang Xiyi let out a cold snort; his sword met the opponent’s saber hack sweeping toward his left flank.

This sword movement seemed average, nothing special about it, but it was actually the essence of Ouyang Xiyi’s whole-life training; it had reached the ‘something-rotten-turns-into-something-magical’ level, a ‘great-skill-looks-clumsy’ state. Even if ‘Wu Zun’ Bi Xuan himself came, he would not dare to underestimate this move.

Ouyang Xiyi’s ‘chen sha jianfa’ [sinking sand sword technique] focused on overwhelming power, with a set of rigid movements; victory and defeat would be decided in just a few strokes. This moment he fought with killing intention, his movement differed from when he was just testing the water earlier.

Ba Fenghan’s eyes gleamed with flashing rays, his steps followed some kind of fantastic footwork, only he kept a distance of about a zhang from his opponent, making the spectators felt that he was not going to go for a direct attack, but constantly changing the angle and direction of this attack, yet it also felt as if he was going to advance in a straight line.

If this kind of hard-to-describe feeling has caused headache to spectators, its effect on the opponent who was directly in front of him would not be difficult to imagine.

For the first time the beauty in white who came with Ba Fenghan showed signs that she was paying attention; her entire being seemed to be absorbed in the fight between the two martial art masters.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were watching with great delight; they gained full understanding of the fight. They came to realization that footwork actually had this kind of wonderful usage.

Ouyang Xiyi let out a sudden roar, fast as lightning he moved across, unexpectedly he moved toward Ba Fenghan’s long saber that was protecting his chest. Neither meeting the saber nor evading backward, he positioned himself about a zhang to the left of his opponent.

Nobody understood why he, who had always been meeting the enemy’s attack head-on, would suddenly employ this kind of strategy. Only martial art masters like Wang Tong, Wang Shichong, Shan Wanjing and the others realized that Ouyang Xiyi was unable to see through the opponent’s footwork, hence he did not dare to advance prematurely, such that needless to say, the spectators were horrified and depressed.

However, his avoidance was actually very logical; because he was occupying the position where the opponent’s saber potential was the weakest. Therefore, he actually did not fall into disadvantageous position at all.

“Good!” Ba Fenghan shouted. Unexpectedly he also withdrew abruptly.

Qi and mind working together, the single sword in Ouyang Xiyi’s hand suddenly turned into sword shadows like stormy sea, as he entered the ‘pursue and attack’ mode like the great river pouring down in torrents.

However, Ba Fenghan seemed to be already anticipating this move. He remained calm like a deep pool with no wind, no waves; his handsome face remain as still as water as he swiftly withdrew about a zhang backwards, and once again charged forward with the saber blocking horizontally.

His retreat and advance was like natural tidal wave; in fact, his entire body resembled nature itself, giving others an indescribable strange feeling.

Wang Tong and the others could no longer conceal the horrified expression on their face.

Ever since Ba Fenghan stepped into the hall, they had already sensed that this kid was not an ordinary person; however, even in their dream they would never imagine that he was this formidable.

‘Dang! Dang! Dang!’ In lightning-fast, flashing-sparks speed, the two combatants exchanged three strikes.

Saber ray radiated all around, sword qi filled the air. Sword sharpness and saber power shrouded an area around three zhang in diameter. Those who stood on the perimeter subconsciously were trying to move back as far away as possible from hair-raising battlefield.

Ba Fenghan suddenly narrowed his line of defense, he only tightly guard a narrow space in front of him. Under Ouyang Xiyi’s stormy-sea, high-waves like attack, wide-open and tightly-closed sword shadows, he moved around like ghost relying on his bizarre footwork.

At a glance he seemed to be falling into a disadvantageous situation, but Wang Tong and the others knew that it was the most ingenious tactic to deal with Ouyang Xiyi.

It should be noted that in order to stay on top of the game by launching continuous attack required a considerable true qi. Supposing Ba Fenghan was able to prolong the current situation, the time when Ouyang Xiyi exhausting his strength would be the moment Ba Fenghan launch a counterattack.

Of course, Ouyang Xiyi had amassed his power for over seventy years, his qi and arteries and veins were long lasting; it was possible that even before Ba Fenghan reached that moment, he would breathe his last first. However, looking at the way he was advancing and retreating right now, nobody would dare to say that Ouyang Xiyi would be able to slaughter him in the next two or three styles.

Wang Tong and Wang Shichong rose up from their seats, but they had to restrain themselves from intervening.

This moment Ouyang Xiyi had other thought. ‘Shua! Shua! Shua!’ successively his sword slashed three times; each slash came from different angle, the power behind the sword varied, sometimes it was light, sometimes it was heavy, so that it would be difficult for the recipient of these attack to get a feel of where the sword edge would be. Yet Ba Fenghan’s long saber obviously moved swiftly, one after another he neutralized the attack. Plus the saber momentum broadened abruptly; now he took a little bit of initiative in offense, while maintaining the level of his power.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling took a furtive look at Shan Wanjing across the hall; they noticed that her beautiful eyes were open wide without blinking as she was looking dreamily at Ba Fenghan, whose prowess was god-like, and seemed to completely forget about the two boys. Shang Ming and the others, with astonished look on their face, had their attention fixed at the hard fighting in the arena.

If they did not leave now, what were they waiting for?

Despite somewhat reluctant to leave the battle, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling thought their little lives were more important; they squeezed themselves step by step toward the gate.

The people that they squeezed into did not seem to feel anything; they simply automatically moved aside a little bit to let them pass, while their eyes were still fixed on the battle.

As with great difficulty they finally reached the overcrowded gate, the sound of flute [xiao] suddenly arose.

The two boys’ curiosity was greatly aroused; in this kind of situation who had the mood to leisurely play the flute? They could not help but focusing their attention to listen.

The flute sounded extremely wonderful, the transitions between phrases varied, but it always fell in between the clashing sound of saber and sword; it appeared present, it appeared hidden, yet it lingered on with every note undefined as if it was casually weaved into the tune as an improvisation. What was more unbelievable was that the tune seemed to blend perfectly with the humming sound of clashing of saber and sword. Note by note breathed question, twists and turns interspersed between phrases, water and milk blended within the flute sound. Even if there were disconnections, the listeners had the feeling that it would continue endlessly, until-death-put-an-end kind of lingering feeling. The flute technique was refined-by-fire quality, with transformation that was pounded-with-a-pestle-until-it-reaches-beacon-fire perfection.

The flute sound sometimes carried a lofty fervor, sometimes a gloomy hidden bitterness. So high that it reached the endless sky, so low that it reached bottomless pit. Momentarily the listeners were stunned in silence.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were entranced as if their souls were hooked by the flute; for the first time in their life they felt that music could have the charm that was more touching than spoken words, unexpectedly they forgot to escape.

Chapter 4, Part 2

Xanius, Bocah, Ysabel, Jaya, HPC, DongBin, Anh, Critical, you are welcome. S