Chapter 67: Xie Yuan’s Full Strength
Chapter 67: Chapter 67: Xie Yuan’s Full Strength
The moment Xie Yuan saw the pale, slightly overweight middle-aged man, he knew it was Zhang Yufeng’s powerful backer: Yu Chunsheng, the County Captain of Yunzhao County, second master of the Vajra Sect, and a Fourth Training expert.
All these titles combined meant he could do whatever he pleased in Yunzhao County.
’Honestly, with a face like that, he looks like a real creep.’
As that scrutinizing gaze fell upon him, Xie Yuan’s skin crawled with goosebumps. Unable to restrain himself, he lashed out with his saber, Wolf King Howling at the Moon, and slashed the Vajra Sect disciple in front of him, sending blood spurting wildly.
The Vajra Sect’s Rock Skill was something else; otherwise, that blow might have cleaved the man in two.
Xie Yuan vented his anger on his opponent, ignoring the glare of several other Vajra Sect disciples who came up to carry their compatriot away.
’This reception... seems about the same as what that giant got, huh?’
He glanced around and suddenly realized that across the several training grounds, the only ones still standing were himself and that giant.
And at that moment, the giant was looking right at him, his head slightly bowed.
Their eyes met. The training grounds fell silent for a moment, leaving only the whistling of the wind.
"Hehehe, Head Escort Shen, am I right in saying that the prize this time will be going to our Vajra Sect again?"
In the main hall, Peng Jie took a sip of tea and chuckled.
Shen Longteng stroked his beard and let out a long laugh.
"Hahaha, they haven’t fought yet. How can you be so sure?"
"Indeed, the tide of battle can turn in an instant, and the outcome of a spar doesn’t always depend on a comparison of strength. Otherwise, we could have just given the prize directly to our new disciple."
Peng Jie was all smiles, clearly believing Xie Yuan’s strength was incomparable to the giant’s.
He wasn’t the only one; anyone who had watched the sparring matches from the beginning probably felt the same.
Although Xie Yuan had defeated three opponents in quick succession, the first two fell to the same fast-blade technique, leaving the impression of a sneak attack or a one-trick pony. His final opponent was quite skilled, even exchanging several blows with Xie Yuan, before he was inexplicably sent coughing up blood by a single slash.
Xie Yuan seemed impressive enough, but in the short time it took him to defeat three people, the giant had already eliminated five junior escorts from the Longteng Escort Agency.
Moreover, the giant was the one who truly lived by the saying "one trick is all you need"—or rather, two tricks.
His five fights were like mirror images: the giant’s first strike would shatter his opponent’s defense, and the second would blast them out of the ring to claim victory. In four of those five matches, his opponents were even sent flying out while spitting blood.
No one had even seen a third move. Talk about having a few simple but deadly tricks.
This giant clearly had foreign blood. With his Innate Divine Power combined with the Vajra Sect’s external martial arts, he was simply invincible among those at the same level. Even many of the senior Darts Masters muttered to themselves that they would have to be cautious if they faced him, or defeat would not be out of the question.
Facing such an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, almost no one believed Xie Yuan could be his opponent. Even Shen Longteng wasn’t optimistic.
But he didn’t mind.
The Longteng Escort Agency and the Vajra Sect had sparred many times. Thanks to Peng Jie’s petty scheming and Yu Chunsheng’s biased refereeing, the Longteng Escort Agency had actually lost more often than not.
But Shen Longteng would never refuse these unreasonable proposals or these clearly flawed sparring matches.
His reasoning was simple, and he had once explained it to everyone in the Escort Agency—
"When you’re actually out on an escort mission, how often do you face an enemy under fair conditions? You’re more likely to be ambushed. A spar like this is not without its benefits for improving your skills."
As for the slight damage to their reputation or being taken advantage of, Shen Longteng would simply laugh it off.
Why had the Longteng Escort Agency become the number one power in Yunzhao County?
Because of some empty reputation? Because of its size? Because it had many powerful Darts Masters?
None of the above.
It was because of him, Shen Longteng.
As long as he was around, no matter how high Peng Jie and Yu Chunsheng leaped, their efforts were all in vain.
As Xie Yuan and the giant stood facing each other, the training grounds grew even quieter, until even the whispers died down.
On the sidelines, Qin Sea watched Xie Yuan with no small amount of worry.
"Chief, do you think Xiaoxie can do it? It’s not that I don’t trust him, but that guy... a barbarian with Innate Divine Power and the Rock Skill... he’s practically a humanoid demonic beast."
"He’ll win."
Zhao Xingyang said only two words.
In the center of the grounds, Xie Yuan looked at the giant and was the first to announce his name and affiliation.
"Longteng Escort Agency, Xie Yuan."
"Monto."
The giant rumbled out his name.
The moment they exchanged names, the battle began.
Monto raised his custom-made Wolf Fang Club high. Made to match his own stature, it was nearly as long as the staffs of the other Vajra Sect disciples, but far wider and much more vicious!
He lifted the fearsome weapon with a single hand, then brought it crashing down!
The iron spikes on the club shrieked as they tore through the air.
The surrounding crowd held their breath. The attack covered nearly half the training ground, making it seem impossible to dodge. Everyone before had been defeated by this very move. How would Xie Yuan deal with it?
Seeing this vicious strike, Xie Yuan’s mind sharpened. For the first time since his breakthrough, his inner breath surged at full force.
He focused all his Inner Strength into his lower body. His feet instantly felt lighter, as if treading on clouds, and his whole body became ethereally graceful, as if he had transformed into a gust of wind.
SWOOSH! Xie Yuan seemed to vanish from his spot, dodging the massive Wolf Fang Club.
The Wolf Fang Club slammed into the ground, smashing a crater into the hard granite and sending stone fragments flying, but there was no sign of Xie Yuan.
Gasps of astonishment erupted from the crowd, and everyone’s eyes widened as they stared at the incredible scene.
In just an instant, Xie Yuan had circled around to Monto’s back and slashed at his lower back, the blade cutting through cloth and flesh to bite deep!
Monto roared in pain and swung the Wolf Fang Club violently behind him, but Xie Yuan had already changed position, appearing in front of him to stab at his chest!
The long saber felt as if it had stabbed into hard-packed earth. It penetrated only an inch before it could go no further.
For someone of Monto’s enormous size, this was likely just a minor wound.
Xie Yuan didn’t linger. He pulled out his blade and moved away before Monto could turn. By the time Monto swung around, he had lost track of Xie Yuan again.
And so, under the dumbfounded gazes of the watching disciples, Xie Yuan became like a whirlwind, circling Monto with his saber, adding one wound after another to the giant’s body.
Though Monto’s strength was unstoppable, his body lacked agility. His Wolf Fang Club swung about uselessly, smashing crater after crater into the ground, yet he couldn’t hit Xie Yuan at all. He even inadvertently gave Xie Yuan surfaces to push off from to move around.
Gradually, Monto’s movements slowed. The blood flowing from his wounds increased until he had become a crimson giant.
A cold light flashed. Monto felt a sharp pain in the back of his knee and could no longer stand, collapsing forward onto his knees. Xie Yuan then appeared behind him, ducking low to avoid the retaliatory swing of the Wolf Fang Club, before flicking his blade upward.
BOOM! Drained of strength, Monto could no longer hold his massive weapon. The Wolf Fang Club flew far into the distance, smashing through a section of the Escort Agency’s surrounding wall.
Xie Yuan straightened up and rested his saber on the kneeling giant’s neck. The winter sun shone down, casting his shadow to completely envelop his opponent.