Food Fairy Lord

Chapter 839 A Thousand Miles (Part 5)
If the atmosphere before him was solidified iron, then he was a pool of cool water. The poplar grove was silent; within moments, the two realized what had happened.

The man in front of me had somehow arrived in the western border region.

"You're from Kunlun. And you?" The young man didn't look at her; his eyes were fixed ahead, shifting slightly.

Lu Yuque turned around. The cloaked man with a sword was staring at her back. He slowly and tentatively relaxed his body, lowering his sword as a gesture: "Young Master Pei is here, and your eyes are not blind. Kunlun Yanri Palace, [Imperial Sword Marquis] Si Tiesong. I am here to pursue the murderer, and I have no ill intentions."

[Imperial Sword Marquis] Si Tiesong.

Lu Yuque never expected to hear this name. The newly appointed Palace Master of Weichen Hall in Kunlun Yanri Palace, whose father had proudly mentioned for days after being invited to the ceremony last year.

Who is this "Young Master Pei"? Lu Yuque stared blankly at the young man behind him.

The man in white remained silent.

"Give it a try?" the young man said. Lu Yuque momentarily doubted that it was his voice, because he had never heard such a cold tone before.

The man in white remained silent for a moment, sweat clinging to his mask. His voice, devoid of its former laughter, became calm and gentle: "The martial world of the Tang Dynasty is currently flourishing. Since Young Master Pei has stepped forward, it might damage the harmony of the Daoqi Association. Why don't we stop here?"

"...That's it?" The young man smiled.

The forest was silent, and Si Tiesong tensed up once again.

"I am willing to join forces with Young Master Pei to capture this fiend," he said, gazing into the empty space.

"Young Master Pei isn't afraid of death, but that doesn't mean he won't die," the man in white said softly, gripping his sword. "Otherwise, swords have no eyes; who can say for sure?"

The young man lowered his eyes and placed his hand on the sword. The movement was relaxed, but both of their pupils contracted simultaneously.

He chuckled softly, "Guess who I'm going to give this sword to?"

Within a ten-foot radius, who dares to test that legendary sword strike?
The white-clad figure moved suddenly, like a ghost.

He vanished from Lu Yuque's sight in the blink of an eye. This familiar scene made her brain buzz sharply. She had never seen anyone catch this sword... but the "movement" was cut off in an instant.

As if she had struck an inviolable law, the moment the white-clad figure moved, a vivid and tragic red burst forth from the sky. A sword-wielding hand, which had lost its speed, was caught in her sight and soared high into the air.

The young man drew his longsword.

Si Tiesong simultaneously shot out. But he was backward.

Clad in white robes stained with blood, he raised his left hand and summoned the longsword once more, which flashed towards the young man's throat. Lu Yuque felt himself being lifted lightly into the air, pulled backward, when at the same time a syllable rang in his ear: "Fire."

In an instant, crimson light filled her face and eyes.

It also engulfed the flying severed hand and the man who swept in from the side, his long hair flying wildly, and the entire forest was transformed into a bright red and magnificent fiery realm.

"Be careful!" she said nervously.

Suddenly, the white-clad figure burst forth from the curtain of flames; the sword was terrifyingly fast, appearing before them in the blink of an eye.

With a "clang," the young man released her. Lu Yuque couldn't see where the sword came from, but it steadily blocked the white-clad woman's sword path.

The white-clad swordsman's third strike was even faster, reaching the back of the young man's neck in the blink of an eye. But the young man's sword flashed again, and with a single spark, the sword struck the back of his head.

Sanhe, the young man looked at the man in white and said coldly, "Yi, Jian, Nan, Zong".

These four words seemed to unleash some kind of demonic power. The white-clad figure's eyes were fierce and cold as a soldier's, and he frantically unleashed a barrage of sword light at the young man with one arm. Poplar trees and fallen leaves were all shredded by the chilling sharpness... So fast, so strong, so ruthless!

But every sword strike hit the iron wall.

Without any attempt to dodge, the young man charged straight at him. Every strike landed squarely on his sword.

He was as fast as a ghost, so fast that even the wind couldn't react, but the dark yellow sword was faster than him; his sharpness was unstoppable, but the jade-like blade would corrode upon contact; his swordplay was like a demon, but the young man's sword was even more unpredictable.

For every step the young man took forward, he retreated a step. Profound energy surged through the poplar grove like wind and clouds, and the heavy clashes of metal were like rushing thunder. Amidst the battle, blood continuously bloomed on the white-clad figure.

Swords clashed, attacks were countered, pierced, and cuts were made... In seven breaths and eighty exchanges, the white-clad body was already badly broken.

He gritted his teeth, blood dripping from his mouth, and suddenly unleashed his True Profound power. He retreated three zhang away amidst the shockwave, then lowered his sword and slowly opened his wide sleeves.

The wind in the forest has smoothed out all the leaves.

Invisible lines ran through it, and Si Tiesong, who was watching from a distance, narrowed his eyes and immediately drew his sword and flew back.

One hundred zhang (approximately 33 meters) is enough to completely encompass the entire poplar forest, transforming it into numerous small squares.

It seemed as if nothing had changed, but Lu Yuque was horrified to find that she could no longer touch the poplar tree beside her; an invisible barrier completely blocked her way.

Not only her, but everything in this space—the leaves, even the wind—was confined to its own grid, as if the world had instantly settled into something rigid and straight.

Lu Yuque had never seen this move before, but she had indeed heard of it.

The legendary secret manual of the Southern School of Yi Jian, the sixteenth of the Xuan Jing, is called "The Scripture of Looking Down on the World Like a Scale".

The man in white stepped along the lines, raised his hand and pressed down, sealing off the four square grids one by one, as if suffocating... The young man also gently raised his hand at the same time.

Fine, glistening water droplets seeped from the morning air.

A thousand drops, ten thousand drops, clear and bright, like the fresh tears of a poplar grove.

They were also strung together, and then, with a slight "poof" before the grid was sealed, Lu Yuque felt as if he had been swallowed by a large water ball. The surroundings suddenly became quiet, as if covered by a completely transparent film.

The man in white, Si Tiesong, and even the hundred riders outside the forest all vanished.

The young man was still in front of her. He took two steps forward, looked ahead, and then thrust his sword at the poplar tree beside him...

The water film ruptured, and reality returned. The long sword pierced the white-clad man's throat, pinning him to the tree.

Countless invisible squares shattered, and a crisp sound, like the tinkling of jade pendants, echoed through the woods, as if from invisible falling leaves.

The man in white struggled in agony, but the young man ignored him, pressing the sword firmly against his throat. He seemed to want to say something, but only blood gushed out when he opened his mouth.

The young man gazed at Si Tiesong outside the woods.

"Want to give it a try?" he asked again.

Despite the hundreds of riders surrounding them, all was as silent as in the dead of night.

Si Tiesong stared into the forest, motionless. After a moment, he released his sword, which fell to the ground with a clatter.

"I will follow Young Master Pei's arrangements," he said.

The young man drew his sword, and the white-clad corpse collapsed to the ground.

He shook the blood off his sword and sheathed it. Turning around, he said, "Miss Lu, go and tie him up."

(End of this chapter)