Decaying World

Chapter 89 089 Trial of the Sword III

Xue Meng and his group's actions also attracted the attention of passersby in Fu'an Town.

Seeing that there was something interesting to see, many people slowed down and stopped to inquire about the situation.

The shops around the pharmacy were soon packed with people.

"I told you, the Black Dragon Gate wouldn't let this go so easily. Just kidding! Two of their top fighters have been crippled. There's no way the sect's experts will just leave like this. There's definitely going to be a good show!" In a nearby dried goods store, the owner, a plump middle-aged man, was quietly boasting to someone while cracking sunflower seeds.

"Are those people the experts from the Black Dragon Gate?" a passerby asked curiously.

"It should be, but it doesn't seem to be the hard-style martial arts of the Black Dragon Gate," the fat boss said doubtfully.

"That's Xue Meng, the leader of the Yi Dao Sect. He's an expert in internal energy who came from Xing Dao. He earned the nickname 'Lian Yun Dao' (Chain Cloud Blade) in Mengshan. He's extremely powerful," explained a passerby carrying a strange weapon who also seemed to be a martial artist.

"An expert in internal energy? The Intent Blade Sect? Why would the Intent Blade Sect be involved in the Black Dragon Gate's affairs?" the fat boss asked in confusion.

This was also the question on everyone's mind. Hearing the question, everyone pricked up their ears, waiting for the martial artist to reply.

"Hey, the Intent Blade Sect and the Black Dragon Gate are all in the past. They've all been merged into Qingfeng Temple. To be precise, it's a merger of three sects. The current abbot of Qingfeng Temple is a genius swordsman who's only twenty years old. It's said that he single-handedly saved Qingfeng Temple from the brink of bankruptcy, then led his followers to annex the Black Dragon Gate, and then invited the Intent Blade Sect to join, thus forming the current unity of the three sects. Not long ago, I also heard that they reached a joint agreement with the Hundred Flowers Sect."

The martial arts expert exclaimed in admiration.

"At less than twenty years old, such a person is truly a role model for us all!"

"Could it be that the real abbot is the strongest person in the three lineages?" The fat boss asked, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"That's for sure. That abbot fought several battles in succession, one of which was at the headquarters of the Hundred Flowers Sect. He entered the fray alone, overpowered the Hundred Flowers Sect with his sword, and managed to snatch a piece of the prize from the agreed-upon deal, giving Qingfeng Sect a much-needed boost." The martial artist was clearly well-informed, and he spoke with emotion at this moment.

"What is his title? This abbot is from one of the surrounding towns, right? He was able to subdue the strongmen from Xingdao. What are his special characteristics?" another young man dressed as a wealthy young master asked with interest.

"I've never heard of that title, but there are rumors that his sword is extremely fast. So fast that it's like the wind, sending sand and stones flying and howling." The martial arts passerby shook his head.

“Since Tu Yue is a genius expert, why don’t we give him a prestigious title to avoid tarnishing his reputation?” the rich young master suggested.

"We're not qualified. Only those of high moral character and prestige are entitled to bestow such a title and pass it on," the martial arts passerby chuckled.

“But we can’t keep calling him ‘the Master’ all the time, can we?” the rich young master said. “I think we should call him ‘The Invisible Sword’. I’ve read about it in storybooks. It’s said that a master with extremely fast sword speed can reach a state where only the weapon is visible, not the person. If it’s even higher, then neither the weapon nor the person is visible. So the Invisible Sword can be considered the ultimate.”

"You're quite good at naming things, I think it's good!" the chubby boss exclaimed, slapping the table in praise.

"I think it's good too, the title is impressive enough."

"I think it sounds good too."

"Great! Come on, have some sunflower seeds, it's on me!"

Those around him praised it.

At this moment, a group of people slowly walked out from a street corner in the distance. They were dressed in yellow, with black ropes tied around their heads. They were all tall and strong, and headed straight for the Black Dragon Pharmacy.

The leader of the group was a tall woman wearing a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat.

The woman had two cross-shaped scars on her face, dark skin, a thick waist and broad shoulders, and from a distance, she looked more like a man than a woman.

Not only her, but also more than a dozen people behind her, all bore cross-shaped scars. The difference was that some had them on the back of their hands, while others had them on their necks, seemingly a symbol of their respective factions.

Swish.

The group stopped about ten meters away from the Black Dragon Pharmacy.

The tall woman raised her hand, signaling everyone to be quiet. She then took two steps forward, lifted her raincoat, and drew a strange, serrated silver-black knife from her waist.

"Xue Meng of Qingfeng Temple?" Her voice was hoarse, as if her throat had been injured by some sharp weapon.

"Who are you? State your name." Xue Meng opened his slightly narrowed eyes and stared at the other person.

"Yao Huan of the Flying Stone Sect." The woman threw away her scabbard and strode forward. "Sword against sword, let's see who's stronger!"

Swish!
Without saying a word, she slashed out with her sword.

The silver blade flashed out a round, moon-like blade of light in an instant. Strangely, the blade of light was not fast, but it gave people a distorted feeling that made it impossible to look away.

By the time Xue Meng reacted, the blade was already at his forehead.

In an instant, he slapped the hilt of his sword and swiftly positioned himself in front of the flashing blade.

clang!
With a crisp clang, the chair Xue Meng was sitting on suddenly exploded and shattered into pieces.

"Your swordsmanship is not bad, but you're far from being good enough to draw your sword in front of me!"

Xue Meng said coldly, his blade suddenly shattering his opponent and unleashing a waterfall of blade light.

The blade's rays flashed one after another, seemingly endlessly repeating.

clang clang clang!

The same continuous clashing of blades erupted wildly, the immense slashing force accompanied by the infusion of internal energy, forcing the woman to retreat repeatedly. In less than two seconds, the woman was staggered back by the terrifying, dense waterfall of blades.

She tripped and lost her balance. In the next instant, a waterfall of blades, far more terrifying than before, suddenly burst forth and swept towards her face.

clang! !

With a loud crash, the woman's hand split open, blood gushing out, as she was thrown away by the force and crashed to the ground.

"Is this all the skill you've got? You dare to provoke my Qingfeng Temple?" Xue Meng said coldly, raising his sword forward, ready to cripple his opponent completely.

"Brother Xue, it's been a long time. You're still as fiery as ever. My disciple has just broken through to the inner realm, but he was a bit too quick to act and his swordsmanship is still rusty. I hope you'll forgive his blunder."

Suddenly, a tall, thin figure appeared beside the woman like a ghost, helped her up with one hand, and then looked at Xue Meng.

The man was pale-faced, dressed in a gray robe, and wore a square hat inlaid with a purple ruyi (a traditional Chinese ornament symbolizing good fortune).

However, it was this somewhat strange outfit that caused Xue Meng's expression to change slightly, and he stopped walking forward, looking at the other person with some surprise and uncertainty.

"You are Bai Feihan? Feishimen, Feishimen, could it be Xing Dao's Feishamen!?" Xue Meng suddenly realized something, and his expression turned extremely ugly.

"How did you end up here? Weren't you at Xingdao's Martial Alliance? What are you doing here!?"

He recognized the other man; this seemingly thin middle-aged man was actually over seventy years old and a top martial artist of the same age as him.

In Xingdao, the opponent was also a member of the Elders' Council of the Inner City Martial Alliance, and was a top expert whose internal strength had also reached perfection!
Logically speaking, the other party should be doing well in Xingdao, as they were the winner of the last competition.

But why? ?

"It's a long story, but to put it simply, new people keep coming to Xingdao. The environment there has deteriorated too much. Even we can't stay there anymore, and a lot of people are leaving every day. It's just that some go here, and some go to other districts, that's all," Bai Feihan said calmly.

"So, it was your Flying Sha Sect that injured my Qingfeng Temple disciples?" Xue Meng said in a deep voice.

"It should be called the Flying Stone Sect. The former Flying Sand Sect has now been merged into the Flying Stone Sect," Bai Feihan said calmly.

"So you came here, with your eyes on my Qingfeng Temple?" Xue Meng said coldly.

“That’s true, Lao Xue. Why don’t you come along too? I know your swordsmanship is just as good as mine. If we join forces, we can go anywhere in the area,” Bai Feihan said sincerely.

"Just you?" Xue Meng asked, taken aback.

“I came here with Li Chi to establish the Flying Stone Sect, and it’s been a few months now. This time, we were planning to take over Fu’an Town, but we didn’t expect it to be occupied by Qingfeng Temple ahead of time,” Bai Feihan replied. “How about it? Come on, let’s join forces. We also have connections with the Tu Yue New Martial Alliance. We don’t need to worry about the outer city getting involved.”

Xue Meng hesitated.

He had originally planned to retire at Qingfeng Temple, but then Bai Feihan appeared. This was an old acquaintance from Xingdao; the two had fought many times, with neither gaining the upper hand, and both knew each other's strengths and weaknesses.

In fact, looking at it this way, Xing Dao seems more familiar with his old acquaintances than with Lin Hui, the young man he followed at Qingfeng Temple. Moreover, Li Chi, with his Azure Frost Palm, is a renowned top martial artist in Xing Dao. The fact that even he came is surprising.
It seems something big must have happened on Xingdao's side.

"No, you did this on purpose. Could it be that you just wanted to lure me out?" Xue Meng suddenly realized.

"What do you think, Lao Xue? You should know Li Chi's strength. Come to our Flying Stone Sect. The New Martial Alliance is already approving the elder positions for us. If things go as expected, Brother Li should also be able to serve as an elder of the New Martial Alliance here."

"You're getting senile. You actually joined a local sect led by a junior. The martial artists in Tu Yue are weak and powerless. Even if you joined, you should be the one in charge," Bai Feihan said with a smile.

"..." Xue Meng repeatedly calculated the gains and losses in his mind. "So, you're just expanding your territory and happened to arrive in Fu'an Town?"

“That’s good. If you agree, we can go to that Qingfeng Temple together, coordinate from the inside and outside, take it down directly, and incorporate it into the Feishi Sect. We can just merge it together,” Bai Feihan said casually.

"I'm sorry." Xue Meng shook his head in the end. "It's a pity you came a little late. If you had come a few months earlier, perhaps I would have agreed to join."

The sound stopped, and the wind and snow began to fall.

The atmosphere between the two sides immediately turned cold.

After a half-minute standoff, Bai Feihan burst out laughing.

"Interesting. Old Xue, you actually rejected us old acquaintances because of a so-called local genius. Now I'm really curious about what kind of person the abbot of Qingfeng Temple is, that he could make you weigh the pros and cons and make such a choice."

"Enough with the small talk, let's have a match." Xue Meng calmly gripped the hilt of his sword. "It'll be a good opportunity to see if you've improved over the years."

"Old Xue, you can't really be that naive, can you? Since I know we're evenly matched, and I can't defeat you by myself, why would I come here alone for no reason?" Bai Feihan chuckled.

Just then, behind him, another short, stocky figure slowly stepped out, staring at the wind and snow, revealing his form.

"Red Fox Fist Luo Linfeng?!" Xue Meng's expression truly changed this time.

The appearance of two people at the same level as him in the Inner Force Realm is clearly a trap!

If negotiation fails, immediately turn hostile and take control. The other party was already prepared for this.

"You all step back and leave first. Go back and report!" Xue Meng immediately transmitted in a low voice.

The three disciples behind him looked grim, but they knew something was wrong. One of them immediately turned and left.

(End of this chapter)