Chapter 1042: Chapter 165: Leaving After Settling the Matter, With 1,000 Shanxue Cries Behind (1/2)

The martial arts of the two are of the same origin, both the supreme skills of the Huangfu Family. Among the Huangfu Family martial artists present, only Wang Anfeng can truly assist Huangfu Hao in sorting out the chaotic Qi mechanism within his body and nurture his injuries, as they both possess profound inner strength of the Fourth Rank.

At this moment, the Qi mechanism surged, instantly melting the surrounding snow.

Behind Huangfu Tian, the void subtly trembled, rippling as if some existence was hidden in a secret world beyond the visible realm, always poised to break into the present world.

The crowd quieted down, watching as this legendary grandmaster exercised his skill.

Just then, a sudden change arose. The gaunt elder, whose Qi channels had been locked by acupoint striking earlier, erupted violently. The enormous Qi mechanism within him vibrated, flinging the two Huangfu Family masters suppressing him directly away.

He then shouted fiercely, advanced, and struck with crossed palms, one above and one below, aiming at Huangfu Tian’s back and the position of his clavicle. The palm force sliced through the air with a muffled, dragon-like roar, vibrating the void. It was the same foreign palm technique used by the Western Regions master who previously died at Wang Anfeng’s hands to speculate against Huangfu Hao.

This sudden rise and fall caught everyone off guard, and before they could react, two Huangfu Family swordsmen were already spurting blood and flying out. The two palms struck Huangfu Tian’s vital spot on his back with a loud bang. The gaunt elder had endured for long only for this moment, and now, looking like a madman, he laughed loudly:

“You killed my brother. Today, even if I die, I will make the Huangfu Family go down with me!”

As he laughed, his face turned pale, coughing up blood, which was due to forcibly breaking through the Qi channels sealed by Huangfu Tian, causing internal collision. Yet, these two palms were launched with accumulated anger, incredibly fierce, more intense than usual strikes.

These two forceful palms landed heavily on Huangfu Tian’s back, his robe billowing, his expression calm, still channeling Qi to heal the severely injured Huangfu Hao. The enemy’s two palms behind struck just with a muffled puff.

The Qi mechanism surged, and his body didn’t move an inch.

The sneer on the gaunt elder’s face froze.

At this moment, due to the vast Qi mechanism’s infusion and adjustment, Huangfu Hao’s injuries finally stabilized completely. He coughed twice, weakly opened his eyes, and his breath steadied a lot.

The gaunt elder’s face turned entirely pale, filled with disbelief, instinctively retreating.

Before he could move several yards away, Huangfu Tian had already risen. With a casual chop of his broad palm on the shoulder of the person who ambushed him, a cracking sound was heard, and one of the latter’s arms was directly severed by the hand knife.

The gaunt elder’s face remained bewildered.

Several moments later, he started to feel intense pain, unable to suppress his howl as he fell to the ground. Huangfu Tian’s right foot then quickly chased out, unceremoniously kicking the gaunt elder’s neck, whose wail abruptly ceased, and he went straight into unconsciousness.

This turn of events shook the hearts of surrounding martial artists. Even though the gaunt elder had gone through bitter fights and his brother had died, rendering most of his supreme skills unusable, his martial foundations were still solid, being a genuine Fourth Rank martial artist.

His palm technique was also surprisingly fierce, but unexpectedly, after trying to ambush Huangfu Tian, he was subdued so easily.

The experts from various sects observed more, and their respect for Huangfu Tian grew.

The initial dissatisfaction in their hearts was soon dissipated and suppressed.

Huangfu Tian raised his eyes, his right hand behind him, calmly remarked:

“This martial arts showcase was unforeseen by the Huangfu Family to have such a change. Now the treacherous disciple is dead; I apologize for the disturbance. The Huangfu Family will offer a gesture of atonement afterward.”

The crowd rose to acknowledge the words.

……

The martial arts showcase awaited for ten years in the seventeen prefectures of the Northwest concluded with the first snowfall of the Great Yuan Era in Great Qin’s fourth year.

Ma Yihong carried a blue parcel on his shoulder, behind him the famous blade Shark Tooth, passed down through generations in his sect. The snow stopped yesterday, and today the weather is sharply cold, but this has no effect on martial artists, his steps a bit cheerful, preparing to leave the city to report his experience here to his master.

Also to tell his master that he already has the qualification to shoulder the sect.

Ma Yihong’s lips formed a slight smile.

Passing by the city gate, he saw a crowd gathered at the grand and magnificent gate of Xiong City, feeling curious, decided to squeeze in to see, but there were more than hundreds of people? Forming a circle, ordinarily he wouldn’t be able to get through.

However, the people behind, annoyed from being crowded, turned their heads and saw the Shark Tooth behind him. Their faces slightly changed, the slight anger disappearing, replaced by some delight and joy, making way for him.

Accompanied by the gradually rising whispers and glimpses caught from all directions, Ma Yihong easily made his way inside. Such a scene would’ve embarrassed him immensely in the past, making him want to turn around and flee. Now, though somewhat uneasy, he felt more puzzled.

What happened here?

This curiosity vanished after he saw the posted rankings.

Because in the third list among thirty names, he saw his own.

Ma Yihong’s eyes widened, his heartbeat accelerated, he raised his head to look at the ancient red-gold characters on one side, then at his name, repeating the process multiple times to confirm he wasn’t mistaken. Then, with disbelief, he looked at his name again and the following appraisal.

Chaozhou’s Ma Yihong, ranked nineteenth on the martial arts showcase rookie list.

Weapon: Shark Tooth Sword.

Realm: Age twenty-three, initial entry into Sixth Rank.

Pan Mountain Sect’s Beishan public praise, Chaozhou’s Ma Yihong, previously not good in fierce battles. This time being able to spar with the Blade Madman, his blade technique is steady and solid, diligently practiced. At just over twenty years old, he has entered the Sixth Rank Realm.

Move Separating Fire Blade, blazing fiercely, truly a first-class team battle blade technique.

Huangfu Family elder Huangfu Yong praised his bravery, being able to face Fourth Rank’s united power with a Sixth Rank, standing boldly, saying we blade wielders should be so bold. If his character does not fall, rising among the clouds in the future, entering Fifth Rank would be only natural, reviving the sect.

Ma Yihong’s fair face reddened slightly, the seventeen Northwest prefectures, spanning tens of thousands of miles, had already been considered a king’s domain a hundred years ago. Each Jianghu grand event, elite from various major sects invite battles and contests, a list is compiled.

Because it’s judged every ten years, it carries weight. Once named on it, in the Northwest region, one is considered to have emerged. Ma Yihong initially hoped to participate in the festival this time, to win once and preserve the sect’s reputation, never expecting to achieve such results.

For a moment, disbelief and ecstasy coexisted, cautiously reviewing the comment from the last line upwards, the more up, the identity of the commenter’s status in Jianghu grew higher and higher.

From Jianghu rangers, transforming into elite masters of major sects, noble clan elders.

The commentary words also grew more in number, sharp and insightful, broadly cited, involving various battle methods, moves, martial arts secrets, though silent, often made Ma Yihong feel enlightened and awakened, recording more intently, realizing this participation in the showcase truly had great benefits, when finally content, he saw the top one.

This couldn’t even be considered commentary.

Yet, it ranked first among evaluations from all martial arts masters, extremely heavy, exceeding noble clan elders, elite masters of major sects, famed rangers in Jianghu, actually very few, with only seven characters in total.

Belonging personally to it, even only two characters –

Blade Madman said, acceptable.

Beneath this was supplemented with a sentence –

Thus, elevated from twenty-sixth to nineteenth.

Ma Yihong’s breath suddenly paused.

PS: First update of the day is presented…

Lately having more inspiration, slightly more thorough outlining, thus updating more frequently, don’t mistakenly think my typing speed has improved greatly, nor have overly expectant thoughts on my evolution…_(:з」∠)_

Thanks for the generous reward from Ji Ling in the origin, appreciate it.