Chapter 446: The Empress's Smile Captivates the Nation (6,000 words, please give me a monthly ticket)
A legendary battle... The moment these four words came to his mind, Zhao Duan smiled first.
The only event that can be described as "legendary" is the scheduled battle between Zhenbao and Wuxiankui next year.
As for the martial arts competition in Taoyuan today, it is more like a footnote passed down from generation to generation. However, if it can be involved in the martial arts competition in the "Heavenly Realm", it is indeed the biggest dream in the hearts of countless warriors in the world.
"...In that case, it's getting late, let's get started right away."
After Xu Zhenguan finished his polite remarks, he calmly announced the start of the martial arts test.
After saying that, she turned and walked towards a table and chairs prepared by the servants not far away.
Xue Shence, Dong Xuan and other spectators also followed, and Zhao Duan and a group of servants retreated to the vicinity of the empress.
Only Qiye and Song Jinxi were left on the field.
"The first match is between the Qingshan swordsman Qiye and the Yu Kingdom's priest Song Jinxi!"
The commander of the Jinwu Guard, who was pulled aside to act as a "referee", announced loudly, and then stepped back, leaving the open space in the peach forest to the two men.
Both sides were top-grade divine articles. Qiye, blindfolded with a black cloth, stood in place and "looked" at the eunuch who was standing several feet away on the opposite side.
Song Jinxi's face no longer had the flattery and laughter that he had in front of Zhao Duan in the past, and his solemn demeanor was completely different from before.
He slowly untied the scabbard from his waist and held it horizontally in front of his chest, holding the scabbard in his left hand and the hilt in his right hand.
"Please advise."
Qiye also held the sword called "Black Inkstone" horizontally, assuming the same posture:
"good."
So rude? You're so confident... Zhao Duan, standing in the crowd, raised his eyebrows and immediately saw both sides draw their swords at the same time.
“clang!”
In the spring light, without any particular order, two sounds of unsheathing were heard, a knife and a sword, both unsheathed at the same time. Song Jinxi took the first step, and his figure suddenly disappeared with a "puff". Only a "shadow" could be seen on the ground, moving at an extremely fast speed, like an underwater torpedo attacking Qiye who was standing still!
"Where are the people? Why are they gone?" Grand Tutor Dong was stunned, and the scholars behind him were also very surprised.
"The Martial God lineage also has the art of shadow escape, but it's different from that of sorcerers. It's a mysterious and elusive footwork." Eunuch Hai gathered the sleeves of his scarlet python robe and explained lightly, adding:
"Song Jinxi is skilled in butterfly swordsmanship and has devoted himself to the study of shadow escape footwork for many years. He is a first-class assassin."
As he was speaking, a monkey eunuch suddenly stood up from a shadow on the ground behind Qiye who was holding a sword. A flash of knife flashed like lightning and silently slashed towards the back of Qiye's neck.
However, the blade passed by but missed. Qiye took a breath and turned sideways, then thrust out calmly with the long sword.
With a "ding" sound, the blade pierced the side, knocking Song Jinxi back several steps, and he disappeared again with a "puff".
Next, Song Jinxi was like a top assassin hiding in the shadows. He would suddenly appear from different angles each time and retreat after one strike. Qiye's response was extremely simple and unadorned, with only two actions: "cut" and "stab".
"Your Majesty, this broad daylight fight seems to be disadvantageous to Song Jinxi."
Although Mo Chou was not good at spiritual cultivation, she understood that an assassin should hide in the shadows, like a maggot on the tarsal bone, rather than fighting openly and honestly.
Xu Zhenguan sits with dignity and nobility on a large dragon-carved chair, his hands on the dragon-head armrests, his expression calm.
"Mo Zhaorong is right. However, the martial arts that Qi Ye has practiced are the ultimate sword. Although seemingly calm, his sword strikes with astonishing destructive power. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to pierce over twenty pieces of armor with a single strike that day. Such a sharp sword is hard to beat in the same realm. Song Jinxi's footwork is extremely strong, and he was able to dodge in time by moving around."
Xue Shence, who ranked first among the military generals in the court, analyzed calmly.
As expected, Song Jinxi kept dodging with his steps, waiting for an opportunity to launch a sneak attack, while Qiye remained unchanged in the face of all changes. Every time he swung his sword, the edge of the sword split into thin black lines.
Finally, after another assassination attempt failed, Song Jinxi was unable to dodge, and when his figure turned into the "shadow" state, the sword energy touched his forearm. In an instant, blood gushed out, staining his sleeves red.
The eunuch's face changed and he hid completely in the dark. He saw a group of black shadows wandering around Qiye, and he didn't know which one was real and which one was fake.
Delay attacking or wait for a perfect opportunity.
Qiye just stood still, holding the sword in one hand, his wrist shaking slightly, and the blood on the sword blade splashed a bright red line on the ground.
In the solemn atmosphere, fine sand flowed down in an hourglass on the table beside the empress, which meant that the stipulated time of this game was constantly decreasing.
Suddenly, Qiye, whose eyes were covered with a black cloth, heard his ears move slightly. Then, among a group of shadows rushing towards him from the side, Song Jinxi suddenly stood up and rushed forward with a knife in his hand!
However, his knife suddenly stopped in mid-air, as if the pause button had been pressed.
Because a sharp sword had already been pressed against his throat.
"You lost." Qiye calmly sheathed his sword and walked towards Chai Keqiao and Xiao Ran who were waiting not far away.
Song Jinxi half-knelt on the ground dejectedly, blood flowing down his arm and staining the handle of the knife red.
The Jinwu Guard commander, who was acting as the referee, sighed:
"The winner is decided!"
Scholars such as Dong Xuan could not hide their disappointment, and the priests were in a heavy mood, but Xue Shence was not surprised at all.
"Your Majesty, I..." Song Jinxi walked dejectedly to the empress's throne and half-knelt on the ground.
Xu Zhenguan said calmly, "You have done your best. Go down and heal your wounds."
Song Jinxi was moved to tears.
…
The other side.
Qiye walked back to the team and said:
"As expected, it's weak. It's up to you guys now."
Xiao Ran, wearing a bamboo hat with a thin string tied around his fair chin, glanced at him indifferently, then turned his gaze to the worshippers opposite him and whispered:
"Then Zhao Duan didn't carry any weapons."
Chai Keqiao nodded and whispered, "Maybe he's not going to play."
Xiao Ran couldn't hide his disappointment, but he wasn't surprised either: "What a scoundrel."
She walked to the center of the field and casually drew out her soft sword. Her black and white eyes were indifferent and arrogant.
"Who's coming?"
A group of priests looked at each other in confusion. They didn't know the detailed list of people who would go into battle today.
"Miss Xiao, what you said is strange. Didn't we agree to have a sparring match that day? Who are you looking for now?" Suddenly, Zhao Duan crossed his arms and walked out of the crowd slowly.
He had a smile on his face and his hair was ruffling in the spring breeze, which was in stark contrast to the nervous worshippers around him.
"Zhao Shaobao? Are you going to meet the enemy?"
"If I remember correctly, this Xiao Ran is a top-grade Divine Chapter... Has Zhao Shaobao already reached the top grade?"
"There's going to be some fun."
"Not good... Young Master Zhao's life is still short, I'm afraid..."
The onlookers had different attitudes, but most of them were worried.
Even a mortal like Dong Xuan understood that Zhao Duan had "cheated" in the Buddhist-Taoist battle that day, and had borrowed Emperor Taizu's sword to defeat Monk Tianhai.
Although several months have passed, there are very few records of Zhao Duan taking public action. The last time he fought with Tang Zhao, he was able to succeed by using a new magic spell by catching the opponent off guard.
Therefore, even if Zhao Duan repeatedly creates miracles, it is still inevitable that people are not optimistic about him.
"Your Majesty...he..." Mo Chou looked at the empress hesitantly, but saw that Xu Zhenguan's face was still calm, as if he was not surprised, and it was equally impossible to guess what he was thinking.
"You want to fight with me?" Xiao Ran raised his eyebrows, extremely surprised.
Zhao Duan smiled faintly and said, "Are you surprised?"
Xiao Ran suddenly laughed, but his smile was a little cold:
"Last time you outnumbered me and made me surrender, but today no one will help you."
After a pause, she seemed to guess something and glanced at the latter's empty hands with undisguised contempt in her eyes:
"What? You didn't even bring your sword. Are you planning to summon the Tai'a Sword again? No wonder you're so confident."
Zhao Duan shook his head seriously and corrected:
"Why would I need a sword to defeat you?"
Why use swords? Does that mean they're not planning to use the remaining soldiers from Taizu? Yes, if they were to use them in a duel like this, even if they won, it wouldn't be a fair victory... The crowd wasn't too surprised.
"No, what Zhao Shaobao meant was why we need to use a sword, not Tai'a." Scholar Han Zhou frowned, catching the wording.
The surrounding scholars also noticed it, but didn't pay much attention.
"Perhaps they simply omitted the word Tai'a. How could they underestimate their opponent when competing with Qingshan disciples? Unarmed?"
"Perhaps, Lord Zhao means using a knife." Some people also speculated that Zhao Duan was playing boring word games.
However, the next scene stunned everyone, including Xiao Ran.
Zhao Duan put one hand behind his back, slowly raised his right arm, and gently stroked with his fingers together.
"laugh."
A piece of peach wood branch, almost as long as a dagger, was cut off and fell down, and he caught it in his palm.
Zhao Duan turned his wrist slightly, and the peach blossoms fell from the branches, leaving only the smooth wooden sword in his hand. He smiled and said:
"This is enough."
Xiao Ran was stunned.
Xue Shence was stunned.
Eunuch Hai also raised his eyelids, revealing a slightly surprised look, and then, as if he had guessed something, he turned his head to look at the Queen of Yu who was sitting in the main seat, watching the battle with an expressionless face.
There was a low cry from the crowd. No one had expected this scene, but Chai Keqiao on the side of Qingshan was stunned, but seemed to understand.
"He wants to prove himself."
"What?" Qiye held the sword in his arms, his attitude cold, and turned his head to look at him in confusion.
Chai Keqiao narrowed his eyes and explained in a low voice:
"Isn't it generally believed in the martial arts world that he's a mediocre martial artist, relying on the Emperor Taizu's divine weapons to gain fame and reputation? So, today, he simply forgoes the use of a sword and uses only ordinary peach wood as a weapon."
Qiye frowned:
"Is this guy crazy? He used every trick he could a few days ago, but he still couldn't defeat Xiao Ran. Now he wants to reverse his reputation? Unless he is planning to use some magical tools."
Chai Keqiao shook his head:
"If he uses external objects, then this act of breaking peach blossoms to make a sword is meaningless. Xiao Ran is in danger. Perhaps we underestimated him."
Qiye shook his head and said, "You overestimate him. Martial arts cultivation is not power. It can be achieved quickly. Is he worthy of it?"
…
Between the fields.
Xiao Ran's expression gradually turned ugly, and her eyes were cold:
"Don't regret it."
Zhao Duan smiled and said:
"I have many bad habits, but one of my few strengths is that I never regret my moves."
Xiao Ran smiled. At this moment, she was too lazy to talk nonsense anymore and took a step forward without warning.
"Bang!"
The girl's boots stepped on the green grass of spring like a dragonfly skimming the water, but made a heavy rumbling sound. If you listen carefully, you will find that it is the roaring sound of the rich Qi in her Qi Sea.
Xiao Ran's body was like an arrow shot from a bow, leaving a trail of afterimages. In a moment, he was close to Zhao Duan. The slender sword in his hand was like a poisonous snake, emitting a cold light.
Xiao Ran attacked without reservation, using all her strength to strike the sword, the tip of the sword almost making an explosion sound. As she thought, this sword would be enough to defeat the disgusting lackey of the empress in front of her, to atone for being kidnapped.
"careful--"
There were exclamations from people all around.
The sword was too fast and too fierce. Song Jinxi, who was pushed into the crowd, broke out in cold sweat on his forehead. He thought that with his footwork, it would be difficult for him to completely avoid the sword.
Is Lord Zhao going to be defeated like this?
This thought arose involuntarily, but soon, Zhao Duan's figure suddenly fell backwards, his body almost level with the ground, and the peach branch in his hand slid an exaggerated semi-arc in the mud. He stuck to the ground in a way that violated the laws of physics and passed by Xiao Ran who jumped up and stabbed with the sword.
“Edged?!”
Xiao Ran's pupils trembled and he felt extremely shocked. It was obvious that half a month ago, this guy's skills were much inferior to his own.
Without time to think, Xiao Ran thrust her sword into the air, twisted her slender waist in mid-air, and spun around like a millstone, using the "back-to-back spear" posture to slash the long sword with the remaining force backwards.
Zhao Duan slammed the ground with his left hand behind his waist, used the force to stand up, and thrust out the peach wood branch in his hand swiftly.
With a "ding" sound, it hit the weak point of the rapier.
Eunuch Hai's eyes lit up. With his keen eyesight, he could naturally see that the seemingly single "ding" sound actually contained twelve collisions.
In an instant, Zhao Duan thrust out twelve swords, attacking and defending at the same time, weakening 90% of the force of Xiao Ran's sword, but because it was too fast, the sounds merged into one.
As a price, even though it was wrapped in the rosy glow, the ordinary peach wood branch still couldn't bear the weight and exploded into countless pieces.
However, Zhao Duan was not in a hurry. He touched the ground with his toes and flew backward like a big bird. At the same time, he reached out and cut off a new branch from a peach tree next to him.
The most abundant thing in Taoyuan is peach wood, which is also his inexhaustible arsenal.
"Is this the level of martial arts he can achieve?"
Even though Chai Keqiao was prepared, he was still shocked.
Qiye's face was also obviously stunned. With his extremely excellent hearing, he captured more clearly the exquisiteness of the twelve sword strikes in that instant.
Xue Shence, the "divine general" of Dayu, was also stunned. He looked deeply at Zhao Duan in the field and murmured:
"Could it be the long-lost Peach Blossom Sword... Rumor has it that it was created by Emperor Taizu in his early years and is not included in the Martial God's inheritance..."
No, the key is not the swordsmanship, but the basic skills of martial arts.
The solid and amazing reaction, speed, body skills, and the way Zhao Duan just displayed to deal with Xiao Ran's sword were definitely not something that an ordinary Divine Chapter Realm or even a worldly realm could possess.
Moreover, Xue Shence, a powerful soldier in the army, could sense that Zhao Duan's martial arts style was not like that of a Jianghu person, but more like...
It can only be learned in the struggle of life and death.
He wasn't mistaken; Zhao Duan's original martial arts skills were indeed mediocre. But over the past six months, countless nights, he had repeatedly tried to break into the dilapidated temple depicted in the Six Chapters Sutra, repeatedly fighting with the once world's number one female sorcerer... or more accurately, being killed...
The sparring partners offered by Song Jinxi and others were nothing more than ordinary strong men in paintings, while Zhao Duan's sparring partner was a hidden boss...
Therefore, although he seemed to be wandering around all day, investigating cases and arresting people at every turn, and had no practice, he was actually growing extremely rapidly.
This is also the special thing about the inheritance of the "God of War". Just like Xu Zhenguan in the past, he studied and practiced in the palace for many years, but he was able to hone his martial arts countless times in the Martial God scroll. This is why he was able to break thousands of troops with a single sword during the Xuanmen coup.
But the person who was most shocked at this moment was Xiao Ran, who was fighting with Zhao Duan.
After a few short rounds, she suddenly realized that she had been deceived!
Half a month ago, in the fight between the two sides outside the cold palace, the man surnamed Zhao didn't use his full strength at all, but was trying desperately to hide his abilities!
This completely distorted her judgment of his strength! Moreover, after several encounters, she was also certain that Zhao Duan had indeed entered the "Upper Grade". Although he had not accumulated as much experience as herself, they were ultimately at the same level, and their cultivation base was similar.
What surprised her even more was Zhao Duan's control of the Qi, which was completely different from the wasteful control he had when he broke through the armor half a month ago.
Even though he wasn't as good as Qiye now, he was no less capable than himself in gathering and saving his inner energy...
"Hide your incompetence! Hide your incompetence! This thief is truly insidious and cunning! When he broke through the armor that day, he deliberately misled us... He deliberately made us mistakenly believe that he relied on accumulated internal energy to break the armor... so that we could underestimate him..."
Xiao Ran cursed in his heart.
However, if she knew that Zhao Duan did not lie half a month ago, but improved his skills by practicing the "Peach Blossom Sword Technique" for half a month... she would probably be even more devastated.
“Ding-ding-dang-dang…”
At this time, the two had already fought for hundreds of rounds. Xiao Ran changed his defensive posture that day and fought extremely fiercely, launching fierce attacks repeatedly.
However, they were all resolved one by one by Zhao Duan with his superb martial arts. Whenever the peach wood branch in his hand broke, he would just replace it with another one. The two of them fought for hundreds of rounds, and neither of them was at a disadvantage at all.
The more Xiao Ran fought, the more frightened and annoyed he became.
Because she realized that Zhao Duan had only used martial arts to fight her so far, and the path of "God of War" could also include the practice of "magic"!
The combination of the two is not simply one plus one.
Therefore, in order to prevent Zhao Duan from using his magic, she could only attack frantically, forcing Zhao Duan to be exhausted from responding and have no time to distract himself.
However, as Zhao Duan adapted to her offensive rhythm, Xiao Ran felt a sudden increase in pressure. Her eyes became fierce and she suddenly changed her sword moves.
The figure rolled in the air, and the soft sword as thin as a cicada's wing was placed on the ground, bent like a bow, and then suddenly straightened.
"boom--"
A torrent of white energy shot out from the sword and moved in a straight line along the ground towards Zhao Duan.
Wherever he passed, the ground exploded with a bang, sending up clouds of smoke and dust.
Zhao Duan stretched out his arms and retreated violently like a big bird returning to the forest. The tips of his boots lightly tapped the ground, and the sword energy exploding from the front of his toes followed closely.
He pushed all the way into the peach blossom forest before slowly stepping down and extinguishing the sword energy that was at the end of its strength.
"Miss Xiao, you also want to eat my Peach Blossom Sword!"
Zhao Duan laughed heartily, stretched out his arms, opened his ten fingers, and grabbed suddenly!
“Squeak—”
The branches of the peach trees on both sides fell down one after another, and the fallen petals were colorful. The spring breeze blew through the peach forest, blowing away three or five pounds of peach blossoms.
Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, one peach wood sword after another was suspended in the air around Zhao Duan, pulled by invisible energy, like countless crossbow arrows about to be shot.
"go!"
Zhao Duan's body was like an iron bow, and he pushed his arms forward!
Dozens of peach wood swords turned into a rain of arrows, stabbing towards Xiao Ran.
Xiao Ran's expression changed slightly, and he quickly switched to defensive sword moves. The soft sword in his hand shook out sword flowers, clanging and dinging, blocking the rain of arrows, and peach wood branches fell one by one.
At this moment, Zhao Duan gently picked up a new peach branch, slowly opened his legs, and slightly closed his eyes.
“Rustle…”
The wind rises.
The countless peach blossoms scattered on the ground were like fallen leaves in the autumn wind, carried by the spring breeze, swirling around Zhao Duan as the center.
Peach blossoms are like a tornado.
It is vast and boundless.
Zhao Duan was in a trance, as if he was back on the Buddhist and Taoist fighting stage last year. He practiced the entire set of "Peach Blossom Sword Technique" layer by layer, superimposing the internal force in his Qi Sea to its peak. Zhao Duan calmly used the peach wood sword as a weapon and extended it towards Xiao Ran through the air:
"One sword, split the sky."
boom--
The peach blossoms in the sky were like split sea water, rolling to both sides. In the devastating sword energy, the peach branches were turned into powder.
Xiao Ran, who had cut down the last "arrow", seemed to come back to his senses. He only had time to hastily make a defensive sword move before his body was hit by a speeding train. His feet left the ground, flew into the air, and fell backwards.
The man was in mid-air when the soft sword slipped out of his hand and pierced half of the ground with a "swish".
The hat on his head cracked in the middle and exploded into two pieces with a "bang", and his long black hair that was tied up on his head also fell apart.
"Bang!"
Xiao Ran fell heavily to the ground, his throat licked a fishy taste and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
She tried her best to get up, but saw a figure approaching above her head, casting a large shadow on her face and blocking out the sunlight.
Zhao Duan stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at the girl lying on the ground. He smiled and said:
"You lose."
The spring breeze blows through the peach garden.
Silence.
Chai Keqiao had no expression on his face, he just gripped the axe handle tightly.
Qiye looked dazed, and could no longer maintain the posture of holding the sword against his chest.
Xue Shence's pupils narrowed, and there was a strong look of surprise in his eyes.
Master Dong couldn’t understand anything else. He just held his breath for a long time and finally let it out as if relieved.
Eunuch Hai exclaimed in admiration, and seemed dazed and distracted.
The eunuchs serving in the Wugong Hall and the commanders of the nearby imperial guards were also stunned.
Open the sky!
In the Buddhist-Taoist competition, the sword that Zhao Duan had used before appeared again, and he defeated Qingshan's disciple easily and neatly.
But this time, he didn't have the Taia sword in his hand, nor even a sword, but only a peach wood branch that could be found everywhere.
Everyone in their ears recalled the words Zhao Duan had said before the competition:
"Why would I need a sword to defeat you?"
yes.
Why use a sword?
But before this, almost no one present took this statement seriously, and rather understood it as a provocation before the war.
But who would have thought that Lord Zhao actually did it?
"When did his martial arts become so powerful..."
Mo Chou stared blankly at the scene in the field, then subconsciously turned her head and looked at the empress beside her.
However, Xu Zhenguan, who was sitting upright on the dragon throne and had no expression other than majesty since entering Taoyuan, had a beautiful face that did not seem to be in this world. The corners of his mouth raised in a sweet smile.
It can conquer a country.
…
Help catch typos
(End of this chapter)
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