Guardians of the State

Long Hao performed a few circles with the broadsword, spreading a burst of chill through the air. In the next instant, a streak of cold light drew across the void as he brought the blade down toward Yunxiao once again!

"It's nothing but a crappy first-tier mystic weapon! A piece of trash for a good-for-nothing!" Yunxiao sneered as he took a strange step and moved to the side, then quickly tapped the blade with his fingers, causing a crisp clang to ring out.

His feet blurred into motion after that, and his figure could be seen flashing at either side of the broadsword as he continued to tap the blade with his fingers, filling the air with buzzing noises. Long Hao was shocked, and he felt the weapon in his grip seeming to be wailing. Horror-struck, he hastily pulled it back.

"What...What's going on!" Long Hao was utterly baffled. His Bluemoon, which he had just unsealed, had returned to its sealed state, looking exactly like an ordinary weapon! In his astonishment, he hurriedly poured his Primordial Qi into it and cried out, "Unseal, Bluemoon!"

He shouted a few times in a row, but the broadsword did not show signs of unsealing. Beads of cold sweat began to break out on his forehead, and he was on the verge of bursting into tears. 'What happens to my broadsword? Is it destroyed? Heavens! I had spent all my money and begged Master Liang Wenyu to craft it for me!"

Yunxiao folded his arms over his chest and sneered, "What other tricks do you have? Show them all to me."

"AHHH! Kill him! Kill him for me!" Long Hao had gone completely crazy. While roaring, he threw caution to the wind and rushed over with his men as he raised the broadsword and brought it down with all his strength!

"Hmph! A bunch of shrimps! Get out of here!"

Yunxiao cried out coldly, then dashed straight into the group of soldiers, leaving numerous residual shadows along the way. As he moved, his fists punched out in blurry motions, dazzling all eyes while striking in every direction through extremely unreasonable paths.

Bam!

Bam!

Bam!

...

The soldiers could only see a figure flash back and forth around them, and each one of them was punched countless times within the blink of an eye. The round plates that protected their chests were all shattered and a force struck their bodies, knocking them flying backward.

Meng Wu gaped at the scene. Yunxiao was like a butterfly dancing amidst the flowers, with light dots—which were actually Primordial Qi—flickering around him!

"It's...It's clearly a dance! Is he fighting or dancing?"

The martial technique he used was called the Flowery Confused Fist, which was invented by a Martial Sovereign named Yuan Shixiao. A major setback in life had changed this man's temperament, making him a little crazy in everything he did. However, as he was a gifted person with an extraordinary strength, he actually turned away from the norm and invented this fist technique. The secret of this technique lay in the word 'confused', and when used, it would always take the opponent by surprise and be almost impossible to guard against.

Soon, all the soldiers were sprawled on the ground, wailing. The broadsword in Long Hao's grip was snatched by Yunxiao and his arms were broken, hanging feebly from his shoulders. He was completely deprived of his ability to fight.

"Although this broadsword is a little crappy, it's still worth some money. I'll take it. Do you have any other good things that you want to give me?" Yunxiao kicked Long Hao in the leg, breaking his bone with a loud crackle!

Long Hao fell to his knees as he hissed with a venomous look on his face, "My dad is the commander of the Imperial Guards! How dare you rob me of my thing! I'll bring men and destroy your family!"

"Destroy my family?" Yunxiao's eyes grew cold, and he was about to lose his temper when he suddenly smiled and said, "I, too, wish you can bring men to my family. Let's see if you can destroy them."

Suddenly, a faint cry rang out in the distance, "Who's making trouble there?"

The voice was not loud, but filled with a shocking power. As it rolled over through the air, everyone could hear it clearly and feel a sharp pain in their ears.

"That's..." When Long Hao looked over, he seemed like he had instantly found a straw that he could clutch at as he hurriedly shouted at the top of his lungs, "My lord! I'm Long Hao, the captain of the third brigade of the Imperial City Guards! Someone is attacking the Imperial Guards here! Please save us, my lord!"

Two men rode side by side on horses along the not-so-spacious street. When the common people on both sides of the street saw the badges on their left shoulders, they all had a look of fear on their faces as they moved out of the way.

The badge was made of pure gold, with a sword and a shield carved on its surface, which represented the strongest armed force of the state—the Guardians of the State!

"Who is so bold to attack the Imperial Guards? Put down your weapon and surrender now!" Huiming cried out in a deep voice as a superior aura emanated from him. His eyes flashed with surprise; although Yunxiao appeared to have an extraordinary aura, he was only a two-stars warrior. Long Hao, on the other hand, was a three-stars warrior, and had so many men with him. So, why was he defeated?

Huiguang's eyes fell on the broadsword in Yunxiao's hand and he was slightly shocked. "Brother, take him down!" he cried out in a faint voice.

Sitting on the saddle, Huiming stared at Yunxiao coldly and said, "Are you going to surrender yourself or do you want me to take you down? You will suffer if you force me to do it myself."

A look of contempt appeared on Yunxiao's face as he said, "How do you know it's my fault? You didn't even ask!"

"The Imperial Guards are His Majesty's right-hand men, and they would not wrong you," Huiming sneered. "It looks like you will not do as I said. Well, I'll have to do it myself then." He leaped into the air from the saddle, swooping toward Yunxiao like a great bird. As he neared, he reached out his right palm and swung it down like a sharp blade!

Yunxiao was sneering, but he had raised his vigilance deep inside to its highest level. This man was a Martial Master of the Two Forces realm, one full realm higher than him. Although Lan Xuan was a peak nine-stars warrior, which made him just one step away from being a Martial Master, he was no way nearly as strong as a real Martial Master!

However, even when fighting Lan Xuan, Yunxiao had to rely on his insights of the natural rules and borrow the force of heaven and earth, only then could he defeat the other with one move. Otherwise, even if he could still win in the end, he would have to pay a great price.

"Hmph!"

He snorted coldly as he lifted Bluemoon and slashed it out. Shafts of golden light burst out of the blade, dazzling all eyes!

Huiming's face fell as he said shockingly, "You are merely a two-stars warrior, so how could you produce such a bright light with the broadsword? It's...it's a mystic weapon!" After recognizing the weapon, he no longer dared to counter it with his palm. He hurriedly pulled back his hand and threw out both fists instead. A stream of Primordial Qi exploded out at the same time like a surging wave, devouring all of the bright light.

BOOM!

Sensing the counterforce coming from the blade, Yunxiao lightly took a step back with his right foot and deflected the force, then raised the broadsword before him.

Huiming landed some ten meters away with a hint of surprise flashing through his eyes. "No wonder you dare to break the law and commit a crime in the street…It is all because you have a mystic weapon in your hand!" he said coldly. "But, now that you have run into my brother and me, your evil journey will end today!"

"End my a*s!"

Yunxiao bellowed suddenly, and taking the opportunity that Huiming was uttering nonsense, he leaped over and slashed out the broadsword. A sharp whistle pierced into all ears as a streak of golden light flashed across the air!

As the difference in their strength was huge, Yunxiao had long known that he must keep the initiative in his hands. Otherwise, once he fell into a passive position, his opponent could easily crush him with just the strength alone.

Huiming glared furiously at Yunxiao, as he did not expect this boy to be bold enough to attack him. "Fine, fine! You're looking for death!" He laughed out of rage.

All of a sudden, he pulled out a copper longsword and slashed it out. Two golden beams clashed in mid-air, seeming dazzling and splendid.

"Nether Swap, the Windy Feet of the Devils!"

Several residual shadows abruptly emerged around Yunxiao as his true-self bent down and spun half a circle, then kicked out his right foot as fast as lightning in a direction that was hard to guard against. Shockingly, his sole was ablaze, and it even kindled the air!

Huiming was greatly shocked. He was confused by Yunxiao's residual shadows, and by the time he found the foot coming in his direction, he no longer had the time to defend against it. His body shrunk abruptly and drifted backward rapidly for several meters like a falling leaf before he could stabilize himself again.

"Unseal!"

After succeeding with the move, Yunxiao cried out lightly and threw himself out. The Bluemoon in his grip let out a deep, muffled rumble as if a sleeping lion had suddenly woken up while a tremendous force surrounded the blade and spread out in waves. With a bright light and an immense cold air, the broadsword slashed down toward Huiming's head!

All his moves—from leaping up into the air and slashing out the broadsword, from using the Nether Swap to the Windy Feet of the Devils, all the way until he unsealed the mystic weapon—were carried out smoothly, without even a slight pause.

As a peak-level Martial Sovereign of the Nine Heavens realm in his previous life, Yunxiao basically had a certain understanding of all the famous martial techniques in the world, and he could merge them together to his advantage. In addition to that, he knew those lower-level martial techniques like the back of his palm, and could use them at any time he wanted!

He knew very well in his mind that in the face of Huiming, whose strength was far greater than his, he had to rely on his rich combat experience and martial techniques to take him by surprise. Otherwise, if Huiming gained a stable ground, he would be defeated with just one move. And just as he had expected, the consecutive surprises had confused the other!

Long Hao, who was watching from the side, was utterly struck dumb. Only now did he realize how huge the gap between Yunxiao and him was. He was already soaked in cold sweat with fear. But, there was one more thing he could not understand: why could this boy effortlessly unseal the broadsword, which he had failed to, and its power seemed to be stronger than when it was in his hand?

"Unseal!"

Huiming was overwhelmed by the attack, and along with his astonishment, his eyes flashed with a great anger and murderous intent. He could not believe he was driven into such a desperate situation by a mere two-stars warrior. As he let out a furious roar, the copper longsword in his hand radiated a bright light and pierced across the void.

Just as his mystic weapon was unsealed, Yunxiao's broadsword came slashing down.

Clang!

The two mystic weapons clashed violently, and for some unknown reason, the longsword that had just unsealed was forced back to its normal state under the attack.

On the other hand, Yunxiao's broadsword was still shining brilliantly as he brought it up and slashed it down once more!

Danger!

Huiguang's expression changed drastically as he sat in his saddle. As a spectator, he found out at once that the situation was not right!

He could not understand why Huiming was suppressed by this guy, when in fact, the difference between their strength was so great. But, he could tell that the broadsword seemed to be slashed down with a very powerful martial technique. Throwing aside his honor and status, he hurriedly stepped on the saddle as he unsheathed his sword and stabbed it toward Yunxiao!

The blade pierced through Yunxiao's body, but in the next moment, his figure began to distort and vanish into light dots.

"Residual shadow? When did he..." Huiguang was taken aback. But on seeing that Huiming's crisis was resolved, he breathed out a sigh of relief.

"What a fool! My purpose was to lure you down from the horse! Now, die with him!" Yunxiao cried out as his aura surged to its peak in a flash. Like a God of Slaughter descending upon the earth, Bluemoon gradually grew brighter in his grip as it sucked over all the Primordial Qi in the surroundings.

"Moon Slash!"