Heavenly Star

Crack…

A clear, ringing sound of breaking. Leng Ya’s face contorted, Chu Jingtian’s heart pounding in his chest. Just when he was about to charge in and help, Yan Zheng’s hands loosened.

Leng Ya felt intense pain burrowing into his heart. He staggered backwards, and felt an incredible wave of aura wash over him that made his very insides boil…right after Yan Zheng had let go, right in the moment when Leng Ya was dumbfounded, the two hands descended upon him…

In this hit, Yan Zheng used his full power. When Leng Ya flew out, blood trailing behind him, a small, cunning smile flashed onto Yan Zheng’s lips. This was a man he couldn’t not be careful of. And everything about him demonstrated that he was going to become uncontrollable…The best choice in that scenario was to eliminate him before he became a huge threat.

“Ice face!”

Calling out, Chu Jingtian threw himself at Leng Ya. But under the incredible impact, Leng Ya’s trajectory was incredibly fast. His bleeding body flew out toward the edge of Fallen Star Cliff. When Chu Jingtian had to stop at the end of the cliff, Leng Ya had already fallen over like a broken leaf, sinking into the Fallen Star Lake below with a splash. In a bit, a ring of red began to spread in the water. The Windbreaker Blade also landed in the water at the same time.

Chu Jingtian’s vision went dark. He knelt by the cliff, staring into the lake, not knowing what to do. Behind him there was a trail of blood. A simple blow from Yan Zheng had wounded Leng Ya terribly.

Yan Gongluo took a step out, but Yan Tianwei stopped him. “Have you forgotten Master’s words?”

“But…”

“No buts. No matter if Master is correct or not, we should not disobey him.” His eyes half-closed, Yan Tianwei’s expression was unchanging. It was like nothing had happened.

“Understood.” Yan Gongluo nodded, but his heart tightened.

Everyone had gone completely silent. They had witnessed a genius talent appear and, within nothing more than a few minutes, saw him destroyed. Needless to say, the emotions running through their head were complicated. Although they didn’t know Leng Ya personally, the deep regret of watching a tragedy like this tormented each of them.

“You…were too hard.” Wu Sansi, who had originally been sitting there recovering his strength, stood up abruptly. His expression looked incredibly nasty.

“There’s no need for mercy in battles. Injuries and death are common and have always been so. Those are the rules for Magic Force Meetings.” Yan Zheng said calmly.

“Rules? Yes, they’re just rules! He’s only a young man. You could have avoided full impact, yet you chose to face him with full force. You’re supposed to be from the noble Northern Emperor sect, and an elder to boot. It’s cold of you to act like this,” Another middle-aged man with his back to the stone cliff spoke coldly.

“Clean and simple, no need to ask for reasons. No matter what their background is, whether they’re man or woman, young or old, this is how the Northern Emperor sect works.” Yan Zheng’s expression became dark.

“Hmph! In the past although there were occasional casualties, those were all when the opponents were either bitter enemies or evenly balanced opponents who had struggled through a long battle. He had no grudge with you, and was far weaker than you. You could have won against him easily, with no need to resort to killing him! Before today I had quite some respect for the Northern Emperor sect. Seeing how you act today, it’s a shame to even watch!”

“Stop talking!”

A low voice rang out, full of suppressed anger. Chu Jingtian stood up from the cliff, turning around slowly. His head was lowered, teeth ground together, eyes clenched shut to suppress the tears about to stream from his eyes. His whole body shuddered.

To someone who lived in a closed-off world like Chu Jingtian had, pain meant being punished by his grandpa, having his grandpa take away his weapon, having his hand cut open…emotional pain? In a world like that, someone as emotionally simple as him wouldn’t understand the heart-rending nature of sorrow.

The moment Leng Ya fell from the cliff, he finally experienced pain that split his very heart open. He had felt it once when hearing Ye Wuchen and Ning Xue were dead, and that was much more distant. He had only heard of Ye Wuchen’s death, but right now he had to watch Leng Ya, who had accompanied him for three years, fall from the cliff after a major injury.

Bitter hatred began to burn in his chest. He rapidly searched for a way to let his anger out. When he opened his eyes, his gaze fixed upon Yan Zheng. His pure nature meant that he rarely felt hate or anger. But in this moment, facing Yan Zheng, the hatred ignited within him was stronger than any he had ever felt.

The moment Chu Jingtian let his aura shine, it was like a hurricane beginning from nothing. Many shocked gazes gathered upon him, regarding him with disbelief. This tall young man could also be no more than twenty-five years old. His aura was enough to prove his strength, and it was even stronger than Leng Ya’s by a significant amount.

“You are?” Yan Zheng observed Chu Jingtian. He couldn’t recall any information about this person, and felt a jolt of surprise.

Chu Jingtian didn’t respond. Reaching behind, he gripped the hilt of his sword. The Cangming Sword left its hilt silently, a bright blue light flashing across everyone’s eyes. Their hearts shuddered in response.

“Cangming Sword!” Yan Zheng muttered. “Interesting…my first opponent was the God of Illusion’s son, the second was the Battle God’s son. Now even the offspring of the Sword Spirit is here…”

“Sword Spirit Chant–Flying Dragon, Raging Hurricane!”

Chu Jingtian’s eyes were filled with a previously unseen darkness. He had no interest in saying an extra word to this old man. His eyes and his wielding posture alike emanated a cold killing intent. Even the Cangming Sword’s blue glow was bone-chilling.

As he called out, the Cangming Sword flew from his hands, spinning while it targeted Yan Zheng. Yan Zheng had received Wu Sansi’s blow with the protection of the fire spirit, but he wasn’t stupid enough to try and touch the Cangming Sword with his bare hands. Stepping back, he extended his hands. An intense burst of energy flew out, slowing down the Cangming Sword. Spinning constantly, the sword brought up wave after wave of chaotic energy, that were like countless smaller blades sliding against his face and body, shocking him. Even more surprising was that even after he was using most of his energy to defend against the swords, there was no sign of it weakening at all!

The sword out of his hand, Chu Jingtian still stood where he was, his right hand outstretched and trembling. Flying Dragon, Raging Hurricane was one of the most difficult moves among the Sword Spirit chants and one of the starting moves of sword manipulation, and could easily kill a weaker opponent in one hit. For stronger opponents, it could force a distance between them. At the moment, Yan Zheng had already been forced fifty meters away by the strength of the whirlwind.

“Sword manipulation? Grandpa, is this what you were telling us about…? This big idiot knows how to use sword manipulation?” Yan Gongruo called out. Yan Tianwei had told them before that it wasn’t hard to master the sword, but it was incredibly challenging to master sword manipulation techniques. Most swordsmen could spend their whole lives before they understood the truth behind the techniques.

“It is indeed…and not just sword manipulation. From the way he’s mastered it, he’s clearly already a master of the craft!” Yan Tianwei exclaimed with a nod.

.

After defeating Wu Sansi and Leng Ya easily, Yan Zheng was already suffering under Chu Jingtian’s first move. Most of the skilled fighters present couldn’t help but stare in awe, barely able to believe their eyes. Yan Tianwei, Yan Qinghong and the rest were far less affected. When they saw Chu Jingtian, they already guessed how much potential lay beneath his simpleminded exterior. Even so, his first move was still a bit of a surprise to them. Sword manipulation had always been the most difficult among sword techniques. Being able to do it freely meant that one had reached the stage of becoming one with their sword, achieving the level of a true master. To reach this stage required years of training as well as years of understanding and feeling the way of the sword.

The fact that Chu Jingtian had progressed so quickly in sword manipulation, accomplishing “Light Sword, Shadowless” at the middle heavenly level that Chu Cangming couldn’t accomplish until the godly level, mostly came from his obsession with the Cangming sword itself. When there was nothing and nobody else he could play with, the sword was his only companion. Although Chu Cangming treated him calmly, he was shaken by how fast the boy progressed. He almost lost his composure when he saw how well he understood the way of the sword. Although Chu Jingtian was around the mid-heavenly level in terms of skill, his swordsmanship within itself was in the early stages of the godly level.

And he was only twenty-three this year. Chu Jingtian was a sword obsessive, a genius in his own way. How powerful he could actually be when displaying all his strength… Leng Ya didn’t know, because he never managed to force Chu Jingtian’s full strength. Chu Jingtian himself didn’t know either.

Fifty meters of distance was nearing the limit of what Chu Jingtian could control through sword manipulation. His extended right hand withdrew, and he flicked his wrist, muttering, “Sword spirit chant–The unpredictable heavens!”

The spinning Cangming Sword finally stopped spinning, starting to float down through the air gradually. In that instant, Yan Zheng reached out for the hilt. But the moment he touched it, the falling sword shot up like a blue bolt of lightning. Although Yan Zheng withdrew his hand quickly, three of his fingers were still cut. His protective aura meant that they were still intact, but the sharpness of the Cangming Sword was like no ordinary sword. With a piercing bout of pain, his right hand was bleeding hard. Retreating, he held his bleeding fingers, thinking to himself: At such a distance, he was still able to manipulate his sword so easily? If the god of swords himself descended, he might be no better than this boy!

Even in that moment, he was still underestimating Chu Jingtian. Shooting the sword from fifty meters away was far from his limit. With a dark look on his face, Chu Jingtian sunk his wrist once more. The sword that had shot up immediately stopped, then shot toward Yan Zheng with incredible speed again, aiming for his neck…for the first time, Chu Jingtian had found killing intent.