Chapter 242: One-eyed Fatty, Halo of Bog
Chapter 242: One-eyed Fatty, Halo of Bog
"Hehe, Miyasame. Try catching me!' Wang Chong smiled, revealing a set of snow-white teeth amidst the darkness.
"Gongzi, I won't hold back then."
Hearing those words, Miyasame Ayaka burst into laughter. Honestly, she was also interested to see how far Wang Chong had improved this time around.
While Wang Chong's footwork was much more profound than hers, she was still confident in catching him. After all, very little could make up for the huge disparity in their cultivation.
While Wang Chong did cross hands with her twice, neither of the two times was a straightforward battle. In the first case, he resorted to trickery, and in the second, she was heavily wounded by Li Zhuxin.
In terms of fighting prowess, Miyasame Ayaka was far above Wang Chong.
"Gongzi, I'm coming now."
Chuckling, Miyasame Ayaka's eyes narrowed into slits. Sou! Without any warning, the light at the entrance suddenly warped, and as though a spectre was melding into the void, she disappeared from view.
If one could comprehend the true essence of Spectre Steps, one would be able to meld into the night, thus becoming nearly indiscernible to the eye. Even a martial artist whose cultivation was far higher than one might only perceive a slight shadow, as if a transparent spectre was roaming around the lands. This was also how the name of the technique came about.
"Gongzi, I caught you!" Just several chi away from Wang Chong, a triumphant smile surfaced on Miyasame Ayaka's lips. Indubitably, Wang Chong was indeed talented, but he was still a way off from matching up to her.
(~1 meter)
"Miyasame, are you sure?" A slight chuckle echoed through the night. It was difficult to perceive from which direction it was coming from, but if one thing was for sure, it wasn't from the Wang Chong Miyasame Ayaka was looking at ahead of her. Her face immediately warped in astonishment.
Shua!
Alarmed, she abruptly raised her speed, covering the several chi in an instant to grab Wang Chong. However, to her shock, her hands actually fell empty. Wang Chong had disappeared, leaving behind a momentary aftershadow in his wake.
"He disappeared?" Miyasame Ayaka narrowed her eyes. She didn't expect her move to actually fall empty. As a True Martial realm expert, she understood the significance of this phenomenon.
There was only one possibility as to how Wang Chong was able to dodge her sudden attack—his speed was above hers.
"How is this possible?" Miyasame Ayaka was in disbelief. This entire matter was too ridiculous for her to accept.
While she had never dared to underestimate Wang Chong, this feat seemed to defy even common sense, What was even shocking was that three zhang away, she saw three identical Wang Chongs smiling at her.
"Gongzi, how did you do it?" Miyasame Ayaka uttered subconsciously in shock.
There wasn't the slightest aura to be felt from the three Wang Chongs, and despite the sharpness of her senses, she couldn't distinguish the real from the fake at all.
"Hehe, this is called Phantom Steps." From a distance even further away, amidst the darkness, Wang Chong appeared from a broken wall. And with his appearance, the three aftershadows disappeared.
"... You can also see that those are the aftershadows I left behind. Due to my lacking mastery, I can only leave three aftershadows simultaneously at the moment. If I were to progress further, it would become possible to leave behind sixty to seventy aftershadows, thus utterly confusing my opponent."
Wang Chong walked over from the wall confidently with his hands behind his back.
"But why haven't I ever heard of this technique?" Miyasame Ayaka asked doubtfully.
"It would be a wonder if you knew about it!" Wang Chong chuckled inwardly. Naturally, the true Phantom Steps wasn't as formidable as that. However, he had done some changes to it, melding the technique along with Tortoise Breathing Art.
As such, it became nigh impossible to discern the true Wang Chong from his afterimages.
Miyasame Ayaka couldn't understand what Wang Chong was talking about, but in any case, his technique was indeed formidable.
"Let's go. I might need your help this time." Following which, Wang Chong turned around and began walking toward the depths of the night.
Having reached Origin Energy Tier 8 and successfully cultivated Phantom Steps, Wang Chong's speed, dexterity, and strength had risen considerably.
Thus, he decided to challenge something harder.
"Let's head over to the second Goguryeon gathering point to take a look."
Thinking of what was to come, Wang Chong's figure melded within the night.
---
As the deep night slowly approached dawn, the capital remained in a state of silence. Except for the occasional patrolling Imperial Army and drunkards, there wasn't a single silhouette to be seen on the streets.
In a remote corner by the capital's northeast, a one-eyed fatty dressed in a loose robe walked along the edge of the streets.
Even though he was playing off as an ordinary wealthy merchant, his gestures were at odds with his appearance. His footsteps were forceful, and his thick arms were, perhaps out of habit, placed on his waist.
Hu!
All of a sudden, a slight rustling sounded, and the body of the one-eyed fatty stiffened. He immediately turned to the source of the sound warily, only to see a mid-teenaged young man appearing from the forest not too far away.
The young man was leaning against a tree trunk with his arms crossed. A cold sneer hung on his face.
"Goguryeon club!" That young man's lips suddenly moved, and he uttered these two words in Koguryoan.
Hearing those two words, the one-eyed fatty's face suddenly twisted in shock. As though having suffered a huge humiliation, his face twisted savagely.
"Bastard!" Confirming that there was no one around, the one-eyed fatty grit his teeth and stripped off the loose-fitting robe he was wearing.
Beneath that loose-fitting robe was a set of black clothes and three Goguryeon sabers.
"You're seeking death!"
The one-eyed fatty's eyes turned cold, and grabbing two of his sabers with his hands and the final one beneath his armpit, he moved with astonishing speed. Shua! Stepping forcefully against the ground, his short and stout body dashed toward Wang Chong like an arrow leaving the bowstring.
With the incredible speed he was moving at, a distance of ten zhang was covered in an instant.
Weng!
Seeing the formidable martial arts executed by the one-eyed fatty, the young man seemed to have suffered a great shock. His body trembled, and he hurriedly retreated back to the forest.
"Thinking of escaping? It's too late for that!" An overwhelming killing intent emanated from the one-eyed fatty.
Shua shua!
Before he even reached the forest, two surges of incredibly sharp saber qi shot out and sliced two humongous tree each. Crashing onto the floor, the cross-section of both trees revealed smooth cuts, reminiscent of a mirror.
"Die!" As fast as the saber qi was, the one-eyed fatty didn't pale in speed at all. In just the blink of an eye, he was already in the forest.
Chi! Chi!
As soon as the one-eyed fatty reached the forest, two figures suddenly attacked the one-eyed fatty simultaneously from his left and right.
The dagger in Miyasame Ayaka's hands flew toward the one-eyed fatty with incredible swiftness. At the same time, Wang Chong also rushed up to the one-eyed fatty with his Phantom Steps, and without any hesitation, a blinding Sword Qi of Massacre shot out from the edge of his Little Yinyang Sword.
Boom!
But the one-eyed fatty reacted swiftly. As soon as the Sword Qi of Massacre was released, he immediately summoned a powerful Deluge of Stellar Energy.
Different from the Deluge of Stellar Energy of an ordinary Origin Energy Tier 9 cultivator, the one-eyed fatty's was clearly much stronger. Under the jolt of the Delug
e of Stellar Energy, Wang Chong's Sword Qi of Massacre was weakened significantly.
But despite so, there was nearly nothing that a Sword Qi of Massacre couldn't penetrate. It would pierce through even the halo of a True Martial realm expert.
"You brat, to think that you had this move!" Sensing grave danger, the Goguryeon warrior immediately lifted his saber without any hesitation, and boom!, he knocked away Wang Chong's Sword Qi of Massacre with his saber intent. At the same time, he slashed at Wang Chong adeptly with the saber in his other hand.
"Saber qi!"
Wang Chong was astonished. Unlike the Goguryeon warriors Wang Chong had come into contact with previously, the other party was actually capable of utilizing saber qi!
In the face of the other party's sword qi, his Sword Qi of Massacre, having been weakened significantly by the Deluge of Stellar Energy, immediately dissipated.
Hu!
At this crucial moment, there was no time to think. Sensing the immense might behind his opponent's blow, Wang Chong had no choice but to retreat temporarily.
Boom!
As soon as Wang Chong leapt aside, a saber qi struck the location where Wang Chong was standing a moment ago. Boom! Dust flew in the air, and a cut over six zhang deep severed the ground.
"AH!"
As soon as Wang Chong leaped aside, Miyasame Ayaka and the one-eyed fatty began crossing blows. Chi! The cloth on the one-eyed fatty's shoulder was severed, revealing a cut a cun deep. But even so, the one-eyed fatty simply howled angrily, and his three sabers began raging about like a tornado. He intended to curb Miyasame Ayaka's speed with speed. With his reckless and brutal fighting style, he actually managed to gain the upper hand over her.
As an opponent, Miyasame Ayaka specialized in speed and flexibility, and her blows were aimed to be fatal. However, this could put her at a disadvantage in a direct confrontation against powerful warriors like the one-eyed fatty.
Under the one-eyed fatty's frenzied torrent of attacks, Miyasame Ayaka couldn't find an opportunity to slip in. As such, she could only dodge the attacks through her Spectre Steps.
"This fellow is powerful!" Wang Chong exclaimed in shock upon seeing the sight. This was his first time seeing an Origin Energy cultivator matching against a True Martial realm expert fair and square. This one-eyed fatty was proving to be a much more difficult opponent than he thought.
Despite Miyasame Ayaka's skills, she was unable to slip in any attacks against the opponent's frenzied three saber slashes.
Hu!
Without any hesitation, Wang Chong executed his Phantom Steps and rushed in. At the same time, he executed the Hexad Arms Art, producing six surges of sword qi in a single breath, each aimed at a different vital of the one-eyed fatty.
On the other hand, Miyasame Ayaka drove her Spectre Steps to its limit and launched a full series of attacks on the one-eyed fatty.
"Hahaha, do you two think you can defeat me like that? Halo of Bog!"
A laughter suddenly roared by the ears of the duo. All of the sudden, the aura surrounding the one-eyed fatty changed, and a halo suddenly emerged amidst the Deluge of Stellar Energy.
Just that, different from the usual green Halo of Thorns, the halo that appeared beneath the one-eyed fatty's leg was actually gray in color!
With the emergence of this halo, the air in the surroundings suddenly grew viscous!
Goguryeon club:
The more exact term would be Goryeo club, and it is used in history notably by Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty in the 18th century. However, Goryeo was only established in the 10th century (Goryeo became a common word used to address Koreans as a whole in that era as it became a huge empire, and it stuck on for the later generations), and Emperor Qianlong came much later, so it is understandable that the Goguryeon warrior didn't understand the slang.
But in any case, club, as in the weapon, symbolizes 'dull-witted' and 'ignorant', and the meaning should be rather clear to him.
Chapter 243: First Blood of True Martial Realm Expert!
Chapter 243: First Blood of True Martial Realm Expert!
"This is bad!"
Seeing the halo, Wang Chong and Miyasame Ayaka's faces darkened. They immediately realized that they had picked a difficult opponent. The 'Halo of Bog' was a type of halo unique to Goguryeons. While it was, in essence, a strength-type halo, due to the unique geographical terrain of the Goguryeons, it carried the effects similar to a bog, thus limiting the movement of their opponent while boosting their own strength.
This halo would only appear in the hands of a few rare elites among the Goguryeon warriors.
Initially, Wang Chong had wanted to start out with a slightly stronger opponent, but Miyasame Ayaka seemed to have made a mistake in her selection of opponent.
"Gongzi, be careful!"
At this moment, Miyasame Ayaka had also noticed her mistake. The enemy was clearly much stronger than her.
Most likely, the other party had been staked out in waiting for them.
"Hahaha, you two pesky brats. Recently, more than ten warriors have disappeared from the first base. If I'm not mistaken, the both of you are the culprits, right?"
The one-eyed fatty chuckled as he examined Wang Chong and Miyasame Ayaka with his only eye. This time around, he spoke in the tongue of the Central Plains.
He was no fool. Considering how the two fellows intentionally provoked him and drew him here, there was a good chance that they were involved in the consecutive disappearance of their men a while back.
"Die!" With a savage grin, a powerful might roared around the one-eyed fatty, and instantaneously, it seemed as though Miyasame Ayaka and Wang Chong had sunk into a heavy, viscous bog.
The halo of a True Martial realm expert wasn't just for show. Harnessing the law of nature, they allowed one to tap into the natural energy of the environment to bring out might far greater than their own limits.
And with his enhanced strength, the one-eyed fatty was completely suppressing Miyasame Ayaka and Wang Chong.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
At the same moment that he activated the Halo of Bog, the one-eyed fatty charged up toward Wang Chong and Miyasame Ayaka with his three sabers.
He had intentionally waited for Wang Chong and Miyasame Ayaka to come into proximity before activating his halo so as to catch the both of them off-guard. Wrapped around in the power of his halo, the both of them would find themselves panicked and unable to escape.
For at least ten breaths from now, Wang Chong and Miyasame Ayaka's foot movements were sealed, and this was more than enough for him to clear them up.
"Pay for the lives of those warriors with your own!" Three sabers fell frenziedly toward Miyasame Ayaka and Wang Chong as though a storm, and in an instant, the both of them were put in an extremely difficult position.
Both Spectre Steps and Phantom Steps were extraordinary secret arts, but it just happened that the one-eyed fatty's Aura of Bog was a perfect counter against them.
Like an ordinary human wading through a marsh, even taking a single step forward was highly difficult for them at the moment.
A swift leopard falling into a marsh would find his fighting prowess reduced exponentially, and Wang Chong and Miyasame Ayaka were in the exact same position.
"Yiiii! ——"
Suddenly, a piercing shrill sounded from the distance. Wang Chong's heart jolted. This was the signal that he agreed on with King Song's master archer.
As long as he replied to that signal, the master archer would immediately offer his long-range cover.
And with that archer’s strength, this Goguryeon elite could possibly be severely wounded in the first encounter.
But Wang Chong didn't want to do so.
Master archers tended to be proud people, and this was more likely to be the case the more formidable the master archer was. If Wang Chong were to be defeated in his first fight against a True Martial realm expert, the master archer might end up underestimating him, and such thoughts would damage his
credibility. The lack of trust in Wang Chong's ability might hinder the master archer from following his orders in future operations.
And Wang Chong would require his help on many affairs in the future!
No matter what, I've to find a way to defeat this Goguryeon warrior. I'll only engage the help of the master archer when it reaches a desperate situation!, Wang Chong thought.
The master archer was an important person in his plans, and Wang Chong had decided only to mobilize him when needed. Besides, if the master archer were to act contrary to his instructions in crucial moments, that could prove to be fatal.
Sou!
Wang Chong activated his Single Character Consecutive Slash and dashed forward. By just a hair's breadth, he dodged the one-eyed fatty's sabers, and in the midst of doing so, he even shot out surges of Sword Qi of Massacre, but the both of them ended up being negated by the other party's saber qi.
The other party's Aura of Bog was indeed formidable, and its effects on Phantom Steps was huge. Fortunately, Phantom Steps wasn't the only footwork technique that Wang Chong knew, and Single Character Consecutive Slash happened to be less affected by the aura.
On the other hand, despite Miyasame Ayaka's higher cultivation, her movements were bound even more tightly than Wang Chong’s.
Peng!
Shadows flashed, and under the one-eyed fatty's control, the air bog crushed down heavily on the ground, creating a loud rumble. Drenched with sweat from the pressure, Miyasame Ayaka staggered for a moment, and before she could react, 'chi!', she was struck on her left shoulder by a saber qi before she could even react. The saber qi cut through her clothes and etched a deep laceration on her shoulder. Fresh blood spurted out profusely.
"Lass, you must be from the Eastern Islands. Those from the Central Plains don't move like you do. Hehe, wait till I take you down and bring you back to my base!" the one-eyed fatty roared in laughter. Embarrassed and furious, Miyasame Ayaka made another mistake and suffered another slash.
"Miyasame, three cun below the left of his waist!"
(~10cm)
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 183