The curvaceous Christina, coldly arrogant yet alluring; the burly, imposing knight Macavoy; and the unassuming priest Frank, who was neither tall nor short, neither fat nor thin.
Among these three, judging by appearance alone, the most intimidating was undoubtedly the tall, burly knight Macavoy, followed by Christina, the ‘Your Highness’ whose alien-like temperament so resembled ‘Black Widow’.
The one who appeared the least threatening was Bishop Frank in his priestly robes, wearing a cross on his chest.
But in Jiang Fei’s eyes, the opposite was true.
From their earlier exchange, Christina was indeed a master. Her combat power index was the highest among all the women he had encountered. Even if she fell a bit short compared to masters like Miyamoto Kazuma, the gap wasn’t huge. Moreover, Jiang Fei always felt this woman had some strange ‘moves’ she hadn’t used during their earlier skirmish. If she went all out, Jiang Fei would probably face some trouble.
As for the imposing tall knight, his every movement indicated a formidable opponent, someone who would likely crush ordinary people with ease.
However, as impressive as these two were, they didn’t pose much of a threat to Jiang Fei. He didn’t sense significant danger from them.
Only the middle-aged bishop, who looked like a charlatan, made Jiang Fei feel uneasy, instinctively sensing this guy would bring him considerable trouble. Even the image of the ‘Diagram of Heavenly Secrets’ in his mind seemed to tremble slightly because of him.
So, Jiang Fei wanted to test him, to see what was so strange about this fellow.
If this guy revealed any ill intentions, Jiang Fei wouldn’t mind permanently keeping this ‘Bishop Frank’ that Christina mentioned in the rice-farming village!
Knight Macavoy and Bishop Frank attacked from left and right, aiming to intercept Jiang Fei, whose finger was thrusting towards Christina. With a sweep of his eyes, Jiang Fei’s figure flickered as he met Macavoy head-on.
Since the main target was the bishop named Frank, Jiang Fei would deal with Macavoy in the shortest time possible before tackling this charlatan.
“Prepare to die!” Macavoy roared like an enraged lion upon seeing Christina injured by Jiang Fei. His burly body charged forward like a massive truck.
Each step he took left a deep footprint in the earth beneath; if it had been concrete, it would have cracked under his feet.
Jiang Fei remained calm, a smile still on his face. He didn’t draw his sword from his storage space, still using his finger as a sword thrust. His footwork was clean and precise, not overly flashy. However, his arm, forming the sword gesture, swayed like a water dragon emerging from the sea, left and right unpredictably, causing the charging Macavoy to wear a serious expression, feeling an absurd sense of being unable to defend.
Indeed, he failed to block Jiang Fei’s ‘hand sword’.
Jiang Fei used the ‘Palm-Breaking Style’ of the Solitary Nine Swords. This style wasn’t limited to just breaking palms; it was a general term. It could actually break various fist and foot techniques, including long and short strikes, grappling and acupoint attacks, eagle and tiger claw styles, Iron Sand Palm, and other such martial arts.
As long as it was a fist or foot technique, Jiang Fei could break it.
Of course, if the opponent’s skill reached an inconceivable level, like Yagyu Munenori’s mastery of internal and external energy, where the flaws in their moves were nearly negligible, then even Jiang Fei would be helpless.
But this knight Macavoy was clearly not that type of consummate master. He relied on brute strength, making it easy for Jiang Fei to find his flaws.
“Hah!” Macavoy grunted lowly. He was confident his punch could shatter the arm bones of Jiang Fei, who had slender limbs. Jiang Fei’s two fingers couldn’t possibly withstand him.
But the expected outcome didn’t happen. When he threw his confident punch, he found himself suddenly striking empty air. His fist only hit the afterimage of Jiang Fei’s fingers. Jiang Fei’s true finger sword had already pierced through like lightning, striking his shoulder!
Sss~
It felt as if a real sharp sword had stabbed his shoulder. The sensation of a sharp energy piercing into his body, forcibly tearing through, made the veins on Macavoy’s face bulge.
His body twisted slightly, his muscles visibly shifting like elastic ox tendons, causing Jiang Fei’s finger sword on his shoulder to be pushed back as if rebounding.
“What kind of strange force is this?” Jiang Fei thought, surprised. Christina’s instantaneous halt of her punch earlier was miraculous enough, but now this burly man’s body was also bizarre. Seeing the opponent’s arm sweeping towards him, Jiang Fei quickly dodged.
It was a pity he didn’t want to kill yet. If he had used his sword just now, Macavoy wouldn’t have been able to launch such a fierce counterattack and would have been seriously injured instead.
Since Jiang Fei failed to take down Macavoy in one strike, Bishop Frank naturally closed in immediately. His attack was peculiar. The Bible in his hand had disappeared to who knows where, and he now wore the silver cross necklace that had been around his neck on his wrist.
Moreover, his attack wasn’t a punch or a palm strike but his hands crossed, forming a very strange hand seal!
At the center of this hand seal hung the silver cross necklace.
Looking at the incoming hand seal, it didn’t seem particularly exquisite. If Jiang Fei wanted to intercept or block it, he felt there were many ways. Yet he frowned, a hint of caution in his eyes.
This charlatan bishop, who could evoke a sense of danger in him, wouldn’t likely use an ordinary, common move. However, even if this move wasn’t simple, Jiang Fei still had to face it.
Pivoting on the ball of his foot, his body leaned slightly to the right as his finger sword thrust diagonally, aiming to break the seal technique. But the moment Jiang Fei’s thrust made contact with the weakest point of the hand seal, instead of injuring Bishop Frank, Jiang Fei felt as if struck by lightning. A bizarre energy spread from the opponent’s hand seal, surging up Jiang Fei’s arm like an electric current and striking his body.
Boom!
It was an intensely scorching energy, unlike the fierce, destructive force of the internal energy cultivated by Chinese martial artists. It felt as if it could ignite the blood within the human body, turning it into an explosive powder keg. This was a completely different attribute from the internal energy cultivated by Eastern martial artists, extremely bizarre.
Fortunately, Jiang Fei was no ordinary person. Although his Beiming Divine Art (North Obscure Divine Skill) was still far from the second layer, his internal energy was ultimately considerable, equivalent to having several years of foundation.
And this wasn’t the internal energy of ordinary martial artists in reality but the true internal energy that only existed in wuxia novels, its power multiplied many times over.
As his internal energy surged throughout his body, the force transmitted from Bishop Frank’s body was immediately suppressed by Jiang Fei. The restless, explosive feeling of having gunpowder poured into his veins instantly lessened considerably.
“Hah!” Jiang Fei grunted lowly. The sword gesture of the Solitary Nine Swords, interrupted by the bizarre energy earlier, quickly reformed. An almost tangible sharp sword energy thrust at the spot on Bishop Frank’s wrist where the cross necklace hung.
Clang!
Like a volcanic eruption, under the collision of two completely different forces, both men retreated several steps. Not just Jiang Fei, but Bishop Frank also now wore a look of caution on his face.
“There really is something strange!” Jiang Fei thought, greatly surprised. After retreating several steps, he didn’t press forward again. He had used the internal energy of the Beiming Divine Art, yet he had only fought this charlatan to a draw.
From the earlier probe, both had gained some impression of each other’s strength.
Bishop Frank indeed possessed an unusual, bizarre power within him. This set of hand seals was even stranger, and the cross necklace on his wrist also seemed to hold some mystery.
Of course, despite the mystery, based on their exchange, his internal energy wasn’t afraid of Frank’s strange power.
Jiang Fei had a rough idea in mind.
If he wanted to defeat this Bishop Frank, he probably couldn’t do it without using a weapon, relying solely on his hands. He hadn’t yet reached the realm of ‘no sword surpassing a sword,’ and his internal energy wasn’t strong enough, which greatly diminished the effectiveness of the Solitary Nine Swords.
But once he used his sword, this Bishop Frank likely wouldn’t be his match.
Similarly, Bishop Frank roughly thought the same.
He looked at Jiang Fei with a cautious gaze, completely astonished that Jiang Fei could remain composed and continue attacking after coming into contact with his hand seal. This gave him a great shock.
“So powerful! It seems my prediction wasn’t false after all. This young man possesses a great treasure. He might truly be able to fight Yagyu Munenori!”
Frank thought to himself in astonishment.
Frank, though not a cardinal of the church but merely a metropolitan bishop, possessed a special ‘artifact’—this cross necklace. When he went all out, his strength could erupt to another level, comparable to the most powerful cardinals in the church.
Precisely because of this, he was assigned to protect Christina.
And one of their church’s cardinals had once fought Yagyu Munenori years ago. Although that battle didn’t truly determine a winner, Yagyu Munenori, after witnessing the cardinal’s strength, voluntarily chose to disengage, not continuing the fight.
In other words, Yagyu Munenori also had some reservations about the terrifying strength of a church cardinal, not having a one hundred percent certainty of victory, which is why he chose to retreat.
And what about just now?
Frank had gone all out, unleashing strength comparable to a cardinal. Jiang Fei, like Yagyu Munenori back then, hadn’t used any weapon and had clashed with him head-on, not falling behind much.
Didn’t this mean Jiang Fei’s strength was already comparable to Yagyu Munenori’s?
“What kind of treasure allows this young man to be so powerful at such a young age?”
Frank’s eyes burned as he gazed at Jiang Fei, pondering. “Among Eastern martial artists, the most important thing is the cultivation of internal energy. But cultivating internal energy isn’t easy. For most people, being able to develop internal energy after the age of twenty is already good. To reach the pinnacle in internal energy, attaining a profound realm like Yagyu Munenori’s, requires at least twenty years of arduous practice. This young man looks only in his twenties; how could he possibly have cultivated his internal energy to such a terrifying level? But if his internal energy hasn’t reached a higher realm, how could he fight my ‘Sacred Power’ to a standstill? The internal energy of ordinary practitioners simply couldn’t do that!”
For a moment, both men felt cautious and didn’t engage further.
In reality, this didn’t mean Jiang Fei was truly so formidable that, without even upgrading the Solitary Nine Swords, he had reached Yagyu Munenori’s level and could defeat a church cardinal.
Frank didn’t know, and Jiang Fei himself wasn’t entirely clear. The reason he could withstand Frank’s ‘Sacred Power’ without being suppressed was that what he cultivated wasn’t the traditional internal energy of martial artists but the internal energy from wuxia novels!
Therefore, even though his internal energy wasn’t very strong yet, it wouldn’t be suppressed by the so-called church ‘Sacred Power.’
It could be said that Jiang Fei had an advantage in his encounter with Frank solely because of his internal energy.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Christina and Knight Macavoy now approached, their expressions greatly changed as they looked at Jiang Fei.
Especially the lesbian Christina, who resembled Black Widow in both temperament and appearance. The disdain on her face had mostly vanished, and she began to regard Jiang Fei seriously.
Jiang Fei’s exchanges with her and Knight Macavoy didn’t reveal much. But his ability to withstand Frank’s attack spoke volumes. She understood what that meant.
It meant that Jiang Fei might not be entirely without a chance in his duel with Yagyu Munenori half a month later. He still had a possibility of winning.
But how could this wretched man, so young, be this powerful?
If he was this powerful and wouldn’t die, wouldn’t her chances of winning over Qiao Yiyi become impossible?
Dammit!
“Are you going to gang up on me now, three against one?” Jiang Fei asked, his expression unchanged, smiling as he looked at the three.
Actually, he was also somewhat puzzled. His earlier moves were standard, not displaying his true capabilities. Why did these three look so shocked, as if he could rival Yagyu Munenori?
Could it be that these three didn’t know how truly powerful Yagyu Munenori was?
Shaking his head to dismiss the thought, Jiang Fei began considering something meaningful and worth trying.
These three individuals from the church each possessed something unusual, completely different from the internal energy of Eastern martial artists.
Could his powerful Beiming Divine Art also absorb this strange power within them and convert it into internal energy?
Perhaps this bizarre power was even more useful than the internal energy of ordinary martial artists?
Thinking of this, a gleam appeared in Jiang Fei’s eyes…
