"I'm not certain of my own strength."
Dan Heng looked down, a sphere of water hovering above his open palm. From what he could gather from his memories, Dan Feng seemed to have been a powerful warrior. Although they were the same person, he wasn't sure if he could truly wield the same undisputed power.
"I've heard that the War Chief of the Borisin is imprisoned in the Shackling Prison. I fear they've come for him."
"Just the two of us... whether we can win against this group of Borisin is still unknown. I recommend we report this to the judges and have them request reinforcements from the Alliance."
Dan Heng clenched his fist, and the sphere of water dissipated with his thought.
Leon was completely unconcerned.
"What?" Dan Heng was perplexed.
A countdown? What did that mean? Had the Alliance already prepared for this?
"In forty seconds, this farce will end on schedule."
Dan Heng was stunned for a moment, then began to observe his surroundings. He instantly understood what Leon meant.
Thinking back, it was no wonder there were so few guards at the Shackling Prison today. So, it was a trap laid for an unsuspecting enemy.
Yaoqing, Martial Decree Ceremony.
Feixiao surged forward first! Her eyes were locked on her prey. Wielding two custom-made military sabers, her figure was a blur of agility!
Qin Suyi raised Xuanyuan to her face, assuming a defensive stance.
The name of the sword technique was spoken, immediately followed by the clang of colliding blades! Saber and sword pressed against each other.
As the wielder of the sabers, when Feixiao clashed with Xuanyuan, it felt as if she had struck cotton; all the force was completely deflected. There was no sensation of having hit her target at all.
The weeping willow is resilient; using softness to overcome hardness was the specialty of this technique. And Feixiao was a fighter known for her ferocious attacks, so this move clearly struck her weak point.
As the longsword swept out, a gale rose from the ground!
As her voice fell, several waves of sword qi shot forth, wrapped in a tempest that felt like an earthquake!
Qin Suyi, still locked in a stalemate with Feixiao, seemed about to be hit... But suddenly, dust kicked up, and her figure vanished like a phantom in an instant.
When she reappeared, Qin Suyi was right behind March 7th. Their faces were mere centimeters apart.
And those few centimeters were bought by March 7th's quick reaction. She had raised her swords in the nick of time, blocking the attack in that unguarded moment!
Mountain Crumble. As a new disciple of the Taixu Sword School, March 7th knew exactly what technique Qin Suyi was using.
Staring into each other's eyes, they both reacted with a counterattack at the same time!
"Thunder Barrage!" "Thunder Barrage!"
They spoke in unison, as if they had both anticipated the other's move.
Raging lightning coiled around the blades of March 7th's two longswords, clashing against the golden bolts erupting from the Xuanyuan sword. Thunder against thunder, the two forces battled relentlessly!
Comparing twin sabers to our greatsword, well, I still think our greatsword is more badass. Experience always triumphs; that saying never gets old. The final outcome was obvious.
Relying on her profound mastery of the Taixu Sword School's arts, Qin Suyi easily won the head-on clash between twin sabers and a greatsword.
After this internal bout of the Taixu Sword School, the two tacitly distanced themselves. Neither could be said to be covered in wounds.
But compared to Qin Suyi, whose clothes were only slightly dirtied, March 7th could barely be described as anything other than battered.
The moment they separated, the faint sound of footsteps suddenly echoed from the right. Feixiao had seized the momentary opening.
March 7th's turn to attack was over, and now it was hers. She gave Qin Suyi no time to breathe!
In the middle of her surprise attack, she slammed the blades of her two sabers together! A great axe was born from thin air!
Feixiao gripped the handle of the great axe with both hands and leaped into the air! From mid-air, she brought it crashing down towards Qin Suyi!
An axe is a very cumbersome weapon, which makes it inherently difficult to use. But Feixiao's renowned speed perfectly compensated for this weakness. The two complemented each other.
In the hands of this natural-born warrior, the axe was no longer merely ferocious! It was a union of speed, precision, and ruthlessness!
Feixiao roared, her entire being like a divine weapon descending from the heavens.
Many Borisin held within the prison had been freed with the help of their comrades. A successful jailbreak.
"You all are truly bold. I like that."
The escaped Borisin stretched their limbs, their words coming out as clouds of hot breath.
"How many years has it been since I've been out?"
One of the freed Borisin greedily gulped in the fresh air, though with some regret.
"A pity there's no fresh flesh and blood to fill my starving stomach."
"Trust me, once this operation succeeds, you won't have to worry about food or drink," Modu said.
"I knew we Borisin would sooner or later reclaim victory from the hands of the Xianzhou Alliance."
The Borisin nodded in agreement with his words.
"I remember the Xianzhou Alliance is always talking about revenge, right? Once the War Chief returns to the nest, it'll be our turn to get revenge on them!"
A Borisin clenched his claw into a fist, his tone filled with utter hatred for the Xianzhou.
Modu said nothing. Revenge? What a joke. Only a fool would seek revenge. A smart person would have already bought a house in the Shackling Prison.
Modu looked at the group of freed Borisin and sneered inwardly. But a smart person needs a few fools as a backdrop to appear even smarter.
A bunch of ingrates who didn't know how to appreciate what they had. Since they weren't willing to stay in the perfectly fine Shackling Prison, then they couldn't blame him for trading them for the chance to stay there himself.
That's right, Modu had no intention of converting everyone. A flower's beauty is enhanced by contrast.
By the same logic, an unrepentant person like him naturally needed some die-hard fanatics to improve the treatment he would receive.
Whether it was Hulei or this group of Borisin, the only thing awaiting them was an even stricter judgment from the Xianzhou Alliance. Only the "Apostles of the Arbiter-General" like them could walk the true path of salvation!
At this thought, Modu took out the treasured cigarette pack and glanced at it again.
"Kingmaker." "Kingmaker." The path to salvation was right there in those two short words on the cover!
Did it mean "Benefit the Xianzhou Alliance's group" or "Benefit his own clan's group"? Neither. It meant "Benefit the Arbiter-General's group"!
To oppose the Arbiter-General was foolish, wrong, maddening!
"Let's go. We'll rescue the War Chief."
Modu carefully put the cigarette pack away, took a deep breath, and spoke.
The Martial Decree Ceremony had reached a fever pitch. Who would inherit the title of Arbiter-General? The answer would surely be revealed soon.
"Hah... hah... hah..." "Hah... hah... hah..."
Feixiao and March 7th were panting in unison. After such a long period of high-intensity exertion, it should have been Qin Suyi who tired out first.
But along with her fatigue came the fact that both of them had also reached their limits. Qin Suyi's condition was no different from when they started, but the two of them weren't nearly as durable as her.
It could only be said that veterans were truly strong; the foundations of novices couldn't compare for the time being.
Seven hundred years of swordplay; March 7th was no match. Battle-hardened experience; no matter how much Feixiao trained, it was difficult to make up for her lack of experience.
Qin Suyi pointed her Xuanyuan sword at them with relative ease.
The rule of this match was for the two of them to defeat Qin Suyi within one hour. Then, she would judge whose total damage was higher.
"You still have the time it takes for one incense stick to burn."
But defeating Qin Suyi was impossible, so the real competition was the total damage dealt within the hour. Even without the star for defeating the boss, getting a two-star result was still enough to earn the rewards.
"If you don't attack soon, I'll have to declare the results..."
Qin Suyi looked at them and said.
March 7th exhaled sharply, steadied her breathing, and composed herself. She reset her stance.
Her gaze was serious, her expression resolute. Bearing the title of the ultimate champion, bearing Leon's hopes, she could not lose!
Feixiao glanced at the person beside her, knowing they were both thinking of the same person right now. That's right, Leon wasn't here yet. She absolutely could not let it end here!
Feixiao shouldered her great axe and rallied her spirits. She had already made a boast; how could she not follow through!
She wanted him to arrive and see her victory, not some regrettable failure. If that were the case, there would be no point in him coming to watch!
Feixiao took a deep breath, her obsession with hunting down Qin Suyi growing even stronger!
As a rival competing on the same stage, how could she not feel that she had already fallen slightly behind March 7th?
She wasn't some martial arts genius, just a bit more diligent. But March 7th was a genuine, heaven-sent talent.
She knew that whether it was damage output or the practice of their respective Paths, she couldn't surpass March 7th in any aspect.
If this continued, she would be the one to lose in the end.
What should she do? How could she turn the tables? Feixiao asked herself.
Should I switch to ranged attacks and wear her down? She looked at her great axe, which had a shooting function, and considered it.
For the sake of fairness, she had decided not to deal damage from the backline. So she had never used any ranged attacks, always fighting at close quarters just like March 7th.
If she changed her strategy now...
She could provide support from the rear while March 7th acted as the vanguard. In that situation, March 7th would undoubtedly be the first to be completely exhausted, while she herself would have likely recovered quite a bit.
She would be in a completely different state. Once March 7th could no longer act, her damage total would be fixed. That was her only chance to win.
By relying on the chip damage dealt while supporting, plus a final desperate burst after recovering, Feixiao might just be able to contend for the highest total damage.
But as soon as the thought emerged, Feixiao immediately rejected it. How could she do something like that!
If Leon were in the same situation, he would never do such a thing! He would only feel the mutual respect of encountering a strong opponent, and then he would crush them head-on with sheer power!
"You're not running away, but approaching me instead? How delightful. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget you!"
Brute force was his way, not evasion! Everything Feixiao did was to catch up to him.
If she used a method that went against his principles, would it even count?
Yes, there was only one path she could take. It had been set from the very beginning.
Feixiao had to defeat March 7th in terms of raw power to prove herself the ultimate champion!
Since her own power wasn't enough— Then she just had to raise her power to the same level as hers!
"Believe in the me that believes in you."
Feixiao recalled those words and took a deep breath. She began to summon the most primal, yet most powerful, force within her body.
Even if it was a curse, it was still her power! Her own power should be used by her; that was the natural order of things!
If it were Leon, facing something disobedient, he wouldn't run away—he would conquer it!
Feixiao would use everything at her disposal. Only by doing so would she have a chance to catch up to his silhouette before the countdown of her life reached its end!
To do that, she had to suppress the madness of her "Lunar Madness"! And transform it into its most essential form—a source of strength.
There was nothing she couldn't do! Because he believed she could do it, then she absolutely could!
A blood-red madness tinged Feixiao's pupils, and steaming white mist unconsciously escaped her lips. Her hand rose of its own accord, partially covering her face.
Her transformed eyes peered at Qin Suyi through the gaps between her fingers. If before she had only seen her as prey, now her gaze was that of someone thoroughly sizing up their quarry.
The hunt was never a game, but a life-or-death war! And now, the hunt had begun!
Within the time it took for this one incense stick to burn, Feixiao was betting everything she had!
Luofu, lowest level of the Shackling Prison. This was the core of the prison, where all the most heinous criminals were held.
"I didn't expect it to be this smooth."
Some Borisin marveled at the lack of any judges obstructing their path. It was almost too easy.
As if someone had laid out a plan, waiting for them.
"The era of us Borisin is about to return!"
A group of Borisin shouted, surging forward to jointly open the prison door, from which a deep green mist was emanating.
With a tremendous sound, the prison door swung open.
Thump! A wide, bestial claw reached out from within, gripping the doorframe!
Following it, the massive head of a wolf, covered by a strange bronze mask, emerged.
Thud, thud, thud. With heavy footfalls, the high-security prisoner slowly walked out, revealing its full form.
It was the Borisin War Chief, Hulei.
"Seven hundred years... I've waited too long..."
A voice filled with authority boomed from within the wolf's head.
"Finally, a chance to see the light of day again."
Hulei took a deep breath, thinking of that damned Luofu swordmaster. If it weren't for that woman, he would still be leading the Borisin army across the sea of stars. How could he have ended up a prisoner, living a life worse than death every single day!
"It's been too long, War Chief! We've come to welcome you back to the nest!"
A Borisin stepped forward to greet him, accompanied by the cheers of the entire group.
A calm male voice came from behind them. Hulei had barely enjoyed his newfound freedom when he saw two handsome men slowly approaching from the rear.
"After all, a stray dog doesn't need a gravestone, so it certainly doesn't need a nest."
Leon, who had turned the tables on the Borisin like an oriole stalking a mantis, spoke.
"They came to welcome you back to the nest. I'm here to send you on your way."
____
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