Chapter 932 The Peak of Swordsmanship, From the Zheng Clan!

The cigarette between Zheng Fan's fingers burned silently.

He didn't believe that Lao Tian would fail because, in his mind, Lao Tian was nearly omnipotent.

In Tian Wujing's eyes, there were probably only two categories of things: those he was willing to do, and those he was unwilling to do.

The concept of whether he could do something simply didn't exist.

Let alone a barbarian prince who had fled in disarray after his royal court was trampled, even if the royal court was still standing, and the prince could summon barbarian tribes from all around to gather by his side, if Lao Tian wanted to catch him, he probably wouldn't be able to escape.

But now,

That barbarian prince had not only successfully fled to the West, but had also rallied the barbarian tribes there, preparing to rise up and restore the royal court?

For some reason,

The name Yelu Dashi surfaced in Zheng Fan's mind.

Back when he learned that Tian Wujing had gone west, the Blind Man had jokingly said that this Prince of Jingnan was probably going to follow Yelu Dashi's example and rebuild a Western Liao.

This possibility was probably the greatest.

That barbarian prince who was being pushed to the front should be a puppet.

Zheng Fan believed that his guess was correct, because a figure like Lao Tian couldn't just disappear without a sound.

Comparatively speaking, he didn't resent Lao Tian's not coming back; perhaps this kind of self-imposed exile was the best choice for him at the moment.

Yelu Dashi's homeland was destroyed, so he had no choice but to go far away and rely on a group of trusted subordinates to rebuild a kingdom.

Now, although Great Yan was still around and thriving, the day Lao Tian returned would probably be the day he fulfilled the promise he made to his grand-uncle that night in the Tian family, and commit suicide in front of the ancestral grave.

This was a kind of relief for him, and from Zheng Fan's perspective, he hoped that this ending would come later.

Once he and Ji Lao Liu unified the entire Xia, he could pack up and go on a western expedition. He was really looking forward to seeing what kind of situation Lao Tian had created in the West.

Death is inevitable for everyone. After a magnificent life, returning to atone for sins and seek that death wouldn't be much of a regret.

At least, for Zheng Fan, from a third-party perspective, it was the most acceptable outcome for him.

The Prince's thoughts drifted a little.

Winter and Erha were still kneeling there, not daring to disturb him.

Finally, the Prince sighed, looked at Winter, and said,

"Which do you think is stronger, the Western armies or the armies of my Great Yan?"

Winter shook his head and answered sincerely,

"The armies of Great Yan are stronger."

"Oh?" Zheng Fan smiled. "I don't need you to deliberately say nice things."

"Your Highness, I'm not saying nice things. I'm not a general. Although I've killed some bandits on my trading journeys, I've never commanded a battle.

But I can compare them from my perspective."

"Tell me about it."

"If we're talking about the size of the armies, the West can also muster armies comparable to Great Yan, or even larger.

But the armies of Great Yan only listen to Great Yan, while the armies of the West nominally listen to the Holy See, because the Holy See represents God's will, but then they listen to their respective kings, and below that, they listen to their respective lords..."

"Alright, I understand what you mean."

"Yes, Your Highness is wise."

In fact, Zheng Fan knew that what Winter said wasn't entirely correct. Even in Yan, one could understand it on this level. After all, he himself was the biggest 'king' in Yan, and the armies under him listened to him and not the emperor.

But that didn't mean that Winter wasn't telling the truth. The reason why he, as an outsider, could have this feeling was because of... culture.

The root cause was that the West at this time hadn't experienced the foundation of cultural integration that the Eastern Xia had, and the Holy See, which should have been responsible for this task, was probably busy suppressing and dismantling the major powers within its sphere of influence to prevent secular power from threatening its divine authority.

In short,

Relying on "God" to forcibly unite cultural cognition was an unrealistic fantasy, and would easily evolve into various evolutions of gods and mixed battles between new and old sects.

The affairs of the human world must ultimately be spoken by humans. No matter how many gods descend, it's useless. One must rely on a mighty man sent by the heavens to turn everything into slag.

However, thinking about western expeditions or not at this moment was really too far away. In any case, the unification of Xia must be completed first.

When things are settled here,

Boating on the southern border of Chu, blowing the wind in the Jiangnan region of Qian, and having a barbecue on the blue waves of the East Sea,

After playing everything that should be played and seeing everything that should be seen,

Zheng Fan wouldn't mind learning from the Mongols of another time and carrying out one or several western expeditions, acting as God and waving the sacred whip at them.

Having fun,

In this life,

The goal is to have fun.

Perhaps even Zheng Fan himself didn't realize that since he had entered the Fourth Rank, especially after Si Niang and Fan Li also advanced, the unrestrainedness in his mentality had become heavier.

The Fourth Rank was reached, and the Third Rank was the next goal. It would definitely be difficult, but there was still hope of making an attempt.

The road is long, but there is always a goal.

And once he reached the Third Rank, and finally managed to get the Demon Lords to keep up with his rhythm,

With seven Third Rank Demon Lords by his side,

With himself sitting in the middle,

That would be a genuine The Descent of Magic.

While worldly power reached its peak, personal martial strength also reached its peak. After all, looking at the martial arts sects, even if those hidden sects or forces that might exist were all included, which family could put out such a vast team of peak combat power?

This was also why Zheng Fan wasn't too enthusiastic about the "rebellion."

Sitting on the dragon throne was equivalent to wearing shackles. Where could it be as comfortable as treating the world as one's own backyard playground in the future?

Getting something for nothing, without having to take responsibility, this kind of happiness even surpassed the act of whoring itself.

"Go find the Blind Man," Zheng Fan said.

How to settle this illegitimate child from the West should be left to the Blind Man to arrange.

What Zheng Fan didn't know was that this person and dog were originally brought by the Blind Man, but were intercepted halfway by a fool.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Winter respectfully saluted and stood up.

Erha also bowed with his front paws and stood up.

After the person and dog left,

Zheng Fan silently touched the Zhonghua brand iron box beside him again.

There were still many things to do, and a long time to prepare,

But he didn't feel tired in his heart.

Being busy and tired,

Were not actually scary,

What was scary,

Was being lost.

...

On the training ground outside the Calabash Temple, the martial arts sparring had entered a white-hot stage.

That is, the tentative contact had ended, and the two sides had begun to fight in earnest.

This competition was actually unfair to the Sword Saint, firstly because he couldn't use his Second Rank, and secondly because, as the sword cultivator with the strongest attack power, he couldn't really kill this big fool chosen by his disciple... or even cripple him.

Therefore, the Sword Saint had to gradually increase his offensive in order to seek that just right degree of control.

Fortunately, Fan Li seemed to understand what he was trying to do, and the tentative moves and exchanges in the early stages were more like the two of them finding a balance point with great tacit understanding.

Among the Embroidered Uniform Guards, there were many experts, most of whom followed the path of martial artists. Their ranks might not be high, but they were more than qualified to be spectators.

In fact, a very important reason why the Prince of Jingnan showed disdain for the so-called martial world was that the good men of Yan took pride in joining the army, which meant that there were many soldiers in the army who had reached a rank.

The Embroidered Uniform Guards watched with great interest, cheering and applauding.

Da Niu, on the other hand, hugged Longyuan and watched with great concentration.

However, Longyuan seemed to instinctively want to fly back to the Sword Saint's side to help him, but the Sword Saint didn't show any intention of summoning it.

Now that this sword had changed hands, the Sword Saint wouldn't take it back unless it was absolutely necessary, otherwise, he would only be laughed at by that Zheng fellow for being too embarrassed to ask for the thing he had given to his own daughter.

As for what constituted an absolutely necessary situation, it was simple: at that time, that Zheng fellow would beg him to take the sword back and use it first.

Fan Li's skin color was now a kind of earthy yellow, which didn't look rigid, but gave people the feeling of flowing.

It was a pity that there were no real experts among the surrounding Embroidered Uniform Guards, otherwise they would have noticed that the big guy, who was currently in a completely defensive position under the Sword Saint's offensive, was using almost every conceivable and applicable method to negate the damage.

Even the Sword Saint, who seemed to have the upper hand, didn't dare to be careless.

Others took a beating because they were inferior in skill.

This person in front of him, however, had decided from the beginning to try to counterattack on the basis of defense.

He had only realized this after losing to Tian Wujing back then. This seemingly foolish big guy had actually understood it clearly long ago.

The Sword Saint deliberately sold an opening and began to catch his breath.

At this moment,

Fan Li's eyes suddenly widened, and he charged directly at the Sword Saint, causing the surrounding ground to tremble.

A Fourth Rank Demon Lord, relying on the power of his bloodline, coupled with terrifying experience and awareness, was enough to rival a Third Rank expert. The current duel was, without exaggeration, a clash between two Third Rank experts.

After the distance between the two sides closed, Fan Li swung his axe and smashed it down.

The Sword Saint used fingertip sword qi to receive the blow.

At the same time, the Sword Saint began to take the initiative to close the distance. This seemed to be a great taboo in sword competitions, after all, a swordsman's physique was far inferior to that of a martial artist, but the Sword Saint was confident that he could draw a chasm between inches with his sword techniques.

While cutting up the opponent's offensive, he would disintegrate and erode the opponent's defense.

This also meant that the Sword Saint's cultivation, even if an ordinary Third Rank martial artist was close to him, he wouldn't be afraid. And how many terrifying martial artists like Tian Wujing could there be in this world?

Therefore, it could almost be declared that the relatively weak physique of a swordsman was no longer a flaw for the Sword Saint.

However,

In an instant, after the two sides exchanged sword qi and axe blows for no less than a hundred moves, the Sword Saint suddenly discovered a problem. It didn't seem as simple as he had imagined.

It wasn't that Fan Li had suddenly erupted with some potential or used some shocking method. In fact, Fan Li was suppressed very severely, and his parrying was also very reluctant.

After all, no matter how rich his experience and awareness were, the Sword Saint was no worse in this regard, so in the face of the absolute power gap, the Demon Lord had to bow his head.

But after a series of exchanges,

The Sword Saint found that although this big guy was holding an axe, what he was wielding were sword moves!

It wasn't too strange to wield sword moves without a sword.

For a swordsman, when his realm was high, everything could be a sword. A tree branch or a chopstick could also stimulate sword intent. For example, the sword qi that the Sword Saint was using at this time was also one of them.

What surprised the Sword Saint, and even made him feel a little helpless and depressed, was that

The sword moves that this big guy was using,

Were actually his, Yu Huaping's!

Although Yu Huaping was born into the Yu Imperial Clan, he was actually no different from someone born from grass roots.

He had a master, but his master wasn't some hidden expert, but a swordsman with decent skills who had been a retainer in a wealthy family in his early years.

Therefore, Yu Huaping was truly led in by his master, but he relied entirely on himself for his cultivation.

His sword was his own routine, his own sword moves, too clear, too obvious.

Although the burly man in front of him was wielding it with an axe, for him, the "founding ancestor," the taste was simply too pungent.

Why would this big guy use his sword moves...

The reason didn't need to be thought about. It must have been sent out by his disciple, whose elbow was always turned outwards.

Girls are impossible to keep, girls are impossible to keep.

Although Yu Huaping was a man, she was, after all, a girl who had been calling him master in front of him for several years. She had shaken out all the family's wealth like this, and was almost blatantly sitting on people's shoulders all day long.

Wasn't that gamble a bit too big?

In fact, the Sword Saint had wronged the Sword Maid.

The Sword Maid didn't deliberately reveal the sword moves of the school to Fan Li. Starting several years ago, Fan Li began to "tutor" the Sword Maid in the lessons he learned from the Sword Saint.

The Sword Saint himself wasn't very good at teaching disciples, because he himself was a genius. If it weren't for Tian Wujing being ahead of him, Yu Huaping should be the most talented person Zheng Fan had ever seen in this world.

The process by which geniuses recognize and comprehend things is different from that of ordinary people.

Therefore, sometimes Fan Li would take the Sword Maid for a walk at night, or have a late-night snack or something, and the Sword Maid would ask Fan Li about things she didn't understand.

And Fan Li,

As the most foolish-looking one among the Prince's Mansion's teachers,

Relied on this method to first thoroughly understand it himself, and then teach it to the Sword Maid, giving her extra help.

The reason why he used this sword move at this moment wasn't to deliberately show off how much your disciple was trying to get close to me. It was purely because Fan Li also understood the Sword Saint's intentions, and using the Sword Saint's moves could block the Sword Saint's intentions as much as possible.

Therefore, in the eyes of outsiders, the training ground at this moment could be described as full of sword qi, and the scene was truly enjoyable!

After a stalemate,

When a certain critical point was reached,

Fan Li began to withdraw his hand.

When Fan Li withdrew his hand,

The Sword Saint also dispelled the second sword qi that was about to condense.

In this situation, if Fan Li wanted to break the situation, he could only launch "insidious" moves.

Similarly, the Sword Saint had reached the point of breaking through the shield with his edge.

It was just a spar, so there was no need to take it a step further and make everyone scarred, after all, it wasn't a matter of life and death.

After exchanging the last sword move,

Fan Li retreated, and the Sword Saint stopped.

"Fun," Fan Li said with a smile.

"Interesting," the Sword Saint said.

Then,

The Sword Saint added, "If you feel itchy in the future, you can do it anytime."

Fan Li shook his head and said, "It's not up to me."

Having reached this level, he was bound to be able to fully exert the power of this level, and there was basically no room for excavation or development. After all, he couldn't be like A Ming, finding a "Cahill" as a blood bag to forcibly catalyze a forbidden spell.

Therefore, no matter how he fought, it would still be this situation, and there was no possibility of any other progress.

Probably, after His Highness advances next time, he would find the Sword Saint for another match, but from the Fourth Rank to the Third Rank... Fan Li wasn't very hopeful.

The Sword Saint didn't ask Fan Li about his sword moves. A person who could absorb the essence and even the sword intent of his sword moves wouldn't deign to actively steal from him.

He probably learned it as soon as he saw it.

But the Sword Saint still reminded him:

"My disciple has grown up, don't let her down."

Age wasn't a problem at all in this era. Yao Zizhan of Qian could marry a thirteen-year-old girl even at his old age, and the image of a pear tree blossoming over a Begonia could even be passed down as a beautiful story.

As for later generations, it wasn't really a problem either.

Fan Li turned his head to look at the Sword Maid standing there.

He didn't know if he liked her or not. To a certain extent, the Demon Lords' concepts and consciousness were different from those of ordinary people.

But Fan Li felt that he didn't hate it when the Sword Maid sat on his shoulders every time, and he was even a little used to it.

Therefore, facing the Sword Saint's warning in the guise of an elder, Fan Li just nodded.

"Alright, let's go home."

The Sword Saint walked towards the two children.

Da Niu smiled excitedly, while Zheng Lin looked down at his fingers.

The Sword Saint picked up the two children,

Da Niu took the initiative to reach out and hug the Sword Saint's neck.

This caused Da Niu to hold Longyuan with just one hand, but in reality, it was Longyuan taking the initiative to float and cling to her. The two, one person and one sword, had long been in perfect harmony.

Zheng Lin turned his face away and continued to rub his fingers. This action was a bit cute, and it was an action that adults used to hint at something beneficial.

But in an instant,

"嚓!"

The Sword Saint caught a glimpse of Zheng Lin's fingertips rubbing out a wisp of extremely slight sword intent just now.

For a moment,

Holding the two children, the Sword Saint felt a surge of heroic spirit in his heart.

It just so happened that the Prince of Pingxi, who should have arrived first but was delayed for a long time and only arrived hastily at the end, finally appeared.

As soon as the Prince came out,

He immediately offered a flattery:

"Wonderful, Brother Yu is indeed the number one swordsman in Xia!"

Yu Huaping smiled:

"I'm just shamelessly warming up this position for my disciples."

"Oh, you're being modest, you're being modest, aren't you? I say, Lao Yu, can you change this habit of yours? Rumors have been circulating in the martial world for more than ten years that it was a polite remark from you that pushed that sword-maker to the position of the Four Great Swordsmen."

Yu Huaping shook his head,

And said:

"Twenty years from now, the peak of swordsmanship in the world will come from the Zheng clan."

The Prince, who had just reminded the Sword Saint not to always say such polite remarks, immediately clapped his hands and said:

"No problem!"

...

In the autumn of the second year of Yingan, the Prince of Pingxi's Mansion requested an audience with the Emperor in the capital.

The Emperor approved it.

---

There will be more tonight, before 2 AM, hold on tight everyone!