Chapter 89: An Accidental Slip

7-9 am, second quarter.

‘Clang~ Clang~ Clang~’

Three gong strikes echoed, and the small training ground fell silent.

The official overseeing the competition stepped forward and loudly read the rules, the gist being that the competition was to showcase bravery, weapons had no eyes, and life and death were up to fate. However, as comrades in the army, it was hoped that they would stop before inflicting serious harm and not act with excessive cruelty.

“Brother Ding, please show mercy.”

Qin Liu held his saber and cupped his fist, and Ding Suian returned the gesture, “Of course, of course.”

Outside the arena, many knew about the feud between the two in the Bureau of Music and Entertainment. So, wouldn’t today be a bloodbath?

However, as soon as they exchanged blows, it was a great disappointment.

Neither of them used their Protective Aura.

They just clashed with their weapons.

It didn’t look like two Manifesting Elemental State Martial Artists competing at all.

Ding Suian didn’t use his Protective Aura. Naturally, he was holding back.

In the Astral state, flesh and skin are difficult to pierce, and the five limbs can be as hard as steel.

But that doesn’t mean weapons are completely useless; Protective Aura can also be infused into weapons, except that the aura attached to the blade turns from a white glow to an ethereal blue.

Ding Suian hadn’t told anyone about his breakthrough.

Only when he specifically guided Lin Hansu did she notice a slight abnormality.

Therefore, Ding Suian did not use his Protective Aura.

Judging others by himself, Qin Liu probably had the same reason.

The two went back and forth, grunting and clanging, fighting for nearly a quarter of an hour.

It made everyone on the viewing platform drowsy.

In the training ground, Qin Liu, taking advantage of a moment to parry and resist, suddenly let out a chuckle and asked with full vigor, “Brother Ding, not using your Protective Aura?”

“If Brother Qin doesn’t use it, then I won’t either. It’s just a competition, stop before inflicting serious harm.”

As Ding Suian’s voice fell, Qin Liu suddenly pressed hard on the back of his saber and pushed, retreating with the momentum, then spun around for a powerful downward chop!

This downward chop was incredibly powerful, the saber wind whistling, clearly using all his strength.

Ding Suian horizontally blocked upwards with his saber, and the two blades collided with an ear-splitting metallic clang that echoed throughout the small training ground.

Seeing Qin Liu step up the intensity, the previously bored spectators all sat up straight.

The two separated immediately after the collision.

However, Qin Liu did not recover his Qi and build up strength as expected; instead, he used the brief recoil to subtly flick his wrist, and the saber edge, which had already lost strength and was sinking, suddenly reared up like a venomous snake and thrust forward.

A faint blue glow suddenly erupted from the saber blade.

The fierce Protective Aura coiled and surged, emitting a sharp, air-ripping sound!

On the viewing platform, Li Baicheng shot up. Qin Shou, who was already prepared beside him, pressed his shoulder down, “Deputy Commander Li, they are competing, what do you intend to do?”

“That brat cheated! He’s entered the Astral state!”

Li Meimei, who was slumped in a soft chair, leaped up, but was also stopped by Qin Shou’s adopted sons.

Sixth Brother is in danger!

Lin Dafu anxiously slapped his thigh and shouted, “Oh no! Stop before inflicting serious harm, stop before inflicting serious harm, we concede! We concede! No more fighting, no more fighting!”

But no one paid him any attention.

Qin Liu, who already had the upper hand, naturally wouldn’t stop.

Sect Master Hao of the Central Heaven Purple Robe raised his eyes to Gao Gan, who was already grappling with Qin Shou’s adopted son, and said calmly yet darkly, “Swords and blades have no eyes, injuries and deaths are inevitable. Since it’s a competition, life and death are left to fate, outsiders must not interfere.”

In the distance.

Lin Hansu and the other two, to avoid impropriety between men and women, were very far from Li Baicheng and the others. Although they couldn’t understand the rapidly changing moves, seeing Ding Suian constantly parrying and Old Lin shouting ‘we concede’ made them realize something was wrong.

They couldn’t help but stand up nervously.

Xu Jiuxi savored the various expressions and reactions of the crowd with keen interest.

“Oh no! Brother Yuanxi is going to suffer!”

Lin Hansu’s palms were sweating with tension when she suddenly heard a sharp cry, and a white figure beside her leaped off the viewing platform.

“Ruan Ruan!”

In the training ground.

Qin Liu’s first saber strike aimed directly at Ding Suian’s chest. Ding Suian held his saber horizontally in front of his chest, and the saber tip, infused with Protective Aura, surprisingly failed to penetrate the Kunwu.

Despite his surprise, Qin Liu’s saber momentum didn’t stop. He slid it down with the flow, then flipped his wrist for an upward slash.

If this strike had hit him, Ding Suian would definitely have been sliced open from the groin upwards by the rising blade, split into two, becoming a happy slice of human meat.

He had originally intended to play a few more rounds with Qin Liu, but then his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a figure descending from the viewing platform.

Only then did he put away his playful thoughts, twisted his legs, exerted force from his feet, and surged with waist strength, leaping more than a zhang into the air.

The suddenly airborne figure not only stunned Qin Liu but also the spectators.

A Manifesting Elemental State practitioner couldn’t jump that high.

While Qin Liu was still in shock, Ding Suian raised his saber with both hands and chopped down from mid-air. An ethereal blue glow swirled on the blade, shimmering brightly in the sunlight.

“!”

Qin Liu quickly lowered his stance, holding the saber hilt with one hand and supporting the back of the blade with the other, raising it horizontally to block.

‘Clang~’

A clash far louder than before erupted, stirring up a circular Protective Aura wind around the two of them, carrying the sand from the training ground like rolling waves.

Qin Liu was already on one knee, barely catching the strike.

Ding Suian looked down from above, his back to the sun, his face obscured. All that could be heard was his low chuckle, “What a coincidence, I’m also Astral!”

Large beads of sweat quickly seeped from Qin Liu’s forehead. He wanted to retort but feared losing his strength, so he could only grit his teeth and endure.

“Hahaha, Sixth Brother also broke through, hahaha.”

Li Meimei’s lewd, wanton, and rampant laughter drifted from afar.

Qin Liu didn’t want to be distracted, yet he was still agitated by that scoundrel’s disturbance.

Just then, he suddenly felt the saber hilt in his hand turn cold. Looking closely, a layer of frost had formed at the junction of the two blades, even in the scorching summer heat.

The frost spread rapidly along the blade. In just a few breaths, Qin Shou’s hands, which were supporting the back of the blade and holding the hilt, were also covered in a layer of frost.

The icy pain was bone-chilling.

“What kind of Demonic Technique is this!”

“Specific Qi Circulation Path!”

As his words fell, Ding Suian suddenly withdrew the Kunwu that was pressing on the opponent’s weapon. Qin Shou’s hands were frozen stiff and he couldn’t react immediately, but Ding Suian didn’t wait for him, instead, he swung his saber back and cut down.

Qin Liu’s hands separated from his body.

Still maintaining the posture of supporting the back of the blade and holding the hilt.

This time, could the Immortal Master of the State Religion still use the Spring Return Edict to restore his arms to their original state?

“.”

Qin Liu was stunned for a breath, then let out a cry of ‘Ah’.

Ruan Ruan, who had just run close, couldn’t help but stop in her tracks.

On the viewing platform, another group of people rose simultaneously.

However, this time, it was Qin Shou and his people.

Ding Suian leaned down, grabbing Qin Liu’s topknot and lifting him up.

Then he adjusted his direction, making Qin Liu face Qin Shou and the others.

Qin Shou’s gaze sharpened, vaguely guessing something, and he roared, “You brat, how dare you!”

He tried to rush forward but was held back by Li Baicheng’s hand on his shoulder, “They are competing, General Qin, what do you intend to do?”

The tables had turned.

“Swords and blades have no eyes, injuries and deaths are inevitable. Since it’s a competition, life and death are left to fate, outsiders must not interfere.”

Li Meimei returned Sect Master Hao’s words verbatim, but his tone was tinged with a hint of Yin and Yang sarcasm.

“Ah~ ah~”

Qin Liu continued to wail. Ding Suian turned to look at Ruan Ruan, who was standing dumbfounded a few feet away, and smiled, “Be good, turn around, don’t look.”

“Oh.”

Just as Ruan Ruan turned around, Ding Suian, holding Qin Liu’s topknot with his left hand and the Kunwu with his right, lightly sliced across Qin Liu’s throat.

‘Hiss~’

“Sixth Brother!”

“Sixth Junior Brother!”

Amidst the exclamations from the viewing platform, Qin Liu subconsciously raised his hands to cover his throat, only to remember halfway that he no longer had hands.

Ten-odd breaths later, Ding Suian, covered in blood, walked towards the competition official.

As he passed the viewing platform where Qin Shou and the others sat, a chorus of curses erupted.

“You brat from the Ding Family, I will never rest until you are dead!”

“You little thief, just you wait for me!”

Ding Suian stopped and looked at the person cursing the loudest, “No need to wait. If you’re not convinced, you and I can have another match next month. We can sign the agreement right now!”

“.”

Blood stained his robes, standing alone in front.

Qin Shou’s remaining five adopted sons exchanged glances, yet not a single one dared to accept the challenge.

A hundred paces away, Xu Jiuxi excitedly licked her upper lip, her peach blossom eyes shining with unusual brilliance, “This Young Master is quite interesting!”

Over there, Ding Suian, seeing no one respond, slowly walked towards the official overseeing the competition.

Young Master Ding was not fierce at all; on the contrary, he was very handsome.

But at this moment, the official, seeing him approach with a blood-dripping sharp blade, was so frightened that he repeatedly retreated until his back hit the wall. Only then did he manage to swallow with difficulty and say hoarsely, “You, you, is there anything else?”

Ding Suian cupped his fist in a salute and sighed, “Weapons have no eyes. This young one accidentally slipped just now and took Brother Qin Liu’s life. My heart is deeply saddened. I am willing to offer ten taels of funeral silver as a small token of my grief. What do you think, official?”

“.”

Your family calls this an accidental slip???

“Official, what do you think!”

“Ah, good, good, Young Master Ding, your com-com-compassionate heart, I ad-ad-admire.”