Book 2: Golden Lock of the Eight Gates

Chapter 29: Sword s.h.i.+eld

Yinglan marked a sign only Zhong Shan would recognize at Miao Xianren’s house. Then she led Tianling-er quickly away. They didn’t have much time. They had to set up everything before the return of a wounded Miao Xianren.

Not too far away, Yinglan found the perfect place. It was at the foot of a tall mountain, surrounded by towering giant trees.

She quickly checked the item that Zhong Shan had pa.s.sed on to her. It was the Eight Ox Crossbow which Zhong Shan had specially made with spear like arrows and a st.u.r.dy folding carriage.

“What’s this?” Tianling-er asked.

“This the thing that fired the great arrows during the fight back at the Zhong residence.” Yinglan explained.

“These great arrows are enough to deal with Xiantian people. But, for someone at the Gold Core Stage, it probably isn’t enough. People at the Gold Core Stage have enormous genuine energy and can create a sword s.h.i.+eld. The great arrows are long but can’t penetrate through the s.h.i.+eld.” Tianling-er became worried.

“That’s alright. The s.h.i.+eld maybe strong but Granduncle will definitely make it weaker. Besides, don’t you still have two Jade Runes?” Yinglan recalled.

“Those Jade Runes can work on those jiangs.h.i.+ at most. That horrid person isn’t as simple as a jiangs.h.i.+. Two Jade Runes might not be enough.” Tianling-er anxiously said.

“No, when Miao Xianren comes back, he will be severely wounded. We will act accordingly then.”  Yinglan replied.

“En.” Tianling-er could only nod in reply.

Yinglan then began to a.s.semble the Eight Ox Crossbow with help from Tianling-er. The bowstring of the crossbow was difficult to draw afterall.

Zhong Shan stood at the front of the flying sword to direct Miao Xianren to the location of the jiangs.h.i.+.

Miao Xianren was in no hurry since those two girls were practically already his, with the help of “Soul Chaser”, they weren’t going anywhere.

Miao Xianren smiled evilly looking at the s.h.i.+di before him. What treasure? You were the treasure from the start.

Zhong Shan could feel Miao Xianren’s gaze behind him. Yet years of experiences had told him to be undaunted in the face of danger.

“It’s right there. s.h.i.+xiong, let’s land the flying sword first. We’ll walk over there so as not to alert them. Besides, I’m still at the Xiantian Stage and haven’t cleansed the impurities from my body yet. You have to wait for me for a while.” Zhong Shan said with a shameful look.

Wait for a while? What for? Going to the bathroom. Miao Xianren could tell what was going on from Zhong Shan’s embarra.s.sing look. He nodded and landed the flying sword.

It was a small forest and Miao Xianren could clearly see their surroundings. Zhong Shan hurriedly ran into the forest.

“What are you afraid of? You’re not a girl.” Miao Xianren smirked.

“I’m afraid the odor will offend s.h.i.+xiong.” Zhong Shan went into the forest after saying so.

Miao Xianren squinted as Zhong Shan’s form disappeared behind the trees. Was he trying to get away? Humph, he didn’t have the ability to escape.

With his powerful ears, he could hear the whizzing sound from the forest.

Soon afterwards, a relieved Zhong Shan came out behind the trees smiling.

“s.h.i.+xiong, we’ll be there after we across this mountain top.” Zhong Shan showed the way for Miao Xianren.

Miao Xianren nodded, though he was still a little suspicious but, since Zhong Shan had returned, he brushed aside any remaining doubts.

With Zhong Shan leading the way, Miao Xianren tapped a few times with his feet to reach the mountaintop then disappeared with Zhong Shan into the other side of the mountain.

Just as they were over the mountain, a person walked out of the forest where Zhong Shan had gone to the bathroom. This person had hid behind a giant tree all this time.

If Miao Xianren were still here, his eyeb.a.l.l.s would probably fall out in surprise.

Zhong Shan, it was another Zhong Shan? How was it possible?

It was Zhong Shan. His true body had remained in the forest while the shadow double went with Miao Xianren to the jiangs.h.i.+ valley.

The real Zhong Shan glanced at the direction of Miao Xianren, then dashed towards where he had came from.

The shadow double who had special abilities was left to face the danger.

The shadow Zhong Shan stopped outside of the valley and pointed to the center to show Miao Xianren.

The black robed man was still holding the heart in his hand and chanting just like before. There were 24 Copper Jiangs.h.i.+ circled around him.

The runes on the sacrificial altar were flas.h.i.+ng, creating an even more bizarre scene.

Miao Xianren looked from afar with brightened eyes which were fixed straightly on the heart.

Though he didn’t know what exactly it was, he was able to sense the evilness from such a long distance. Miao Xianren had a strong desire to own it.

Though greedy, Miao Xianren didn’t act on the impulse, rather he carefully a.n.a.lyzed the situation. Who was this person? Why was he holding such an item in his hand? How high was his level of training? Could he grab it from his hand?

He pondered for a while, then turned to look at Zhong Shan. He obviously wanted for find out the strength of that person from Zhong Shan.

Zhong Shan was waiting for this moment. He immediately asked, “s.h.i.+xiong, how do feel about those Copper Jiangs.h.i.+?”

“Copper Jiangs.h.i.+?” Miao Xianren took a look at those jiangs.h.i.+ with creased eyebrows.

“Right, will it be difficult for s.h.i.+xiong to deal with those jiangs.h.i.+?” Zhong Shan asked.

“Nonsense, those little jiangs.h.i.+. Though they have copper skin and bones, they are nothing to me. What I want to know is the strength of that black robed man. Have you seen him attack anyone?” Miao Xianren asked in a deeper voice.

“I haven’t seen the strength of the black robed man. However, I have noticed a few things that I will a.n.a.lyze for you.” Zhong Shan said with a smile.

“Oh?”

“That man is currently practicing a certain martial art or performing some sort of special ritual, he couldn’t get away from the altar. A few hours ago when I pa.s.sed by here, he was sitting like this already. In other words, this is his weakest or defenseless moment.” Zhong Shan continued.

“En.” Miao Xianren nodded.

“Furthermore, he has only 24 jiangs.h.i.+ guarding him which means that he can only handle 24 of them. Then his strength……”Zhong Shan purposely stopped.

“Then his strength is just a little bit above the Copper Jiangs.h.i.+.” Miao Xianren quickly finished the sentence for him.

“s.h.i.+xiong is really smart. There’s a strong chance that his strength is lower than s.h.i.+xiong. In addition, he can’t move. So, s.h.i.+xiong, are we going for that evil heart or not?” Zhong Shan spoke enthusiastically.

Miao Xianren swallowed and turned to look at the black robed man again. He still couldn’t make up his mind. He believed that though he hadn’t reached the top of the Gold Core Stage, he was still the most powerful one below the Nascent Soul Stage because he knew the Hongluan Manual. However, when facing the unknown, he was still very cautious.

Zhong Shan watching at the side with frowned eyebrows as well. He didn’t expect Miao Xianren to be so shrewd. He had to try something more drastic.

“s.h.i.+xiong, though I’m not as strong as you, I’m willing to test the water for you.” Zhong Shan suddenly offered.

“You?” Miao Xianren looked at Zhong Shan with amazement.

Miao Xianren could guess how strong Zhong Shan was. He hadn’t even reached the later stage of Xiantian. He wanted to go? Was he asking to be killed? As expected, Zhong Shan’s offer puzzled Miao Xianren.

Seeing Miao Xianren’s puzzling look, Zhong Shan knew he had achieved the desired effect. He strode towards the valley.

He had only moved forward two steps when the man with the heart in the distance suddenly opened his eyes, a great killing intent in his eyes.

The man recognized Zhong Shan immediately. Surprising, that jiangs.h.i.+ didn’t kill him?

Zhong Shan could see the flas.h.i.+ng evil green light in his eyes from the distance. What was he trying to do?

No matter what he was up to, Zhong Shan had no choice but to go forward.

The black robed man seemed to mutter something, five of the Copper Jiangs.h.i.+ instantly rushed towards Zhong Shan. The black man then turned his attention to Miao Xianren.

When he saw Miao Xianren, the black robed man frowned in annoyance.

Miao Xianren didn’t expect Zhong Shan to rush straight in. Miao Xianren considered Zhong Shan’s action as suicide. Was he looking for death? Impossible.

Miao Xianren couldn’t watch Zhong Shan die.  In the blink of an eye, the five Copper Jiangs.h.i.+ jumped towards Zhong Shan.

Ten arms prepared to tear Zhong Shan into shreds.

“Hu, hu~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~”

Out of nowhere, over a hundred energy swords appeared before Zhong Shan aimed at the five jiangs.h.i.+.

“Dang, dang, dang…………………………..”

The swords struck the jiangs.h.i.+ stunning them for a moment before they charged. But the slight pause was enough for Miao Xianren to come forward.

Zhong Shan just so happened to quickly step away.

The five Copper Jiangs.h.i.+ rushed at Miao Xianren. Miao Xianren waved his pink sword slightly and hundreds of energy swords appeared out of the pink sword, fusing into a blade that was over ten meters long.

Ten meters long? Zhong Shan widened his eyes at the side. No, it wasn’t that the sword had grown longer, rather it was a s.h.i.+eld of energy shaped like a sword. Sword s.h.i.+eld!

Zhong Shan had learned that when he used a machete or sword, he could apply Zhenqi into it to create killing intent, it was called Sword Spirit. This was the ability one would have when reaching Xiantian. But once one formed genuine energy, the Sword Spirit could erupt and depart the sword to become the energy sword.

At the Gold Core Stage, one could create Sword s.h.i.+eld. Though attached to the sword, it was pure energy with a physical form. It was extremely powerful. Those with even greater power could create a Sword s.h.i.+eld of more than three hundred meters long.