Jiang Fei watched the water droplets shooting high into the air from the pond, sensing the sword intent of the second level of the Dugu Nine Swords. His mind was filled with swirling thoughts.
The Dugu Nine Swords was a peerless sword technique created by the Sword Demon, Dugu Qiubai. It was widely known that the levels of sword mastery Dugu Qiubai cultivated throughout his life were divided into four realms.
The first level was the “Nameless Sharp Sword”, gleaming with a bluish light. Fierce, vigorous, rigid, and sharp, capable of destroying anything in its path. He used it to contend with heroes across the land before reaching the age of twenty.
The second level was the “Zǐwēi Soft Sword”, used before he turned thirty. Because it unfortunately wounded a righteous man by mistake, he discarded it into a deep valley.
The third level was the “Black Iron Heavy Sword”. The heavy sword had no sharp edge, its great skill lay not in craftsmanship. Relying on it, he roamed the world unhindered before the age of forty.
The fourth level was then a “Wooden Sword”. After Dugu Qiubai turned forty, he was no longer restrained by objects. Grass, trees, bamboo, or stones could all become his sword, and the weapon he used transformed into a simple wooden sword.
Feng Qingyang’s realm was roughly at this wooden sword level. Jiang Fei had clearly just advanced the Dugu Nine Swords to the second level, so how had he already entered the “No Sword” realm?
This left Jiang Fei feeling quite puzzled. It seemed he shouldn’t have reached this stage so easily. The Dugu Nine Swords was divided into three levels in total. If he had already reached the wooden sword realm at the second level, then what about the final third level?
Could the third level achieve a state like Miyamoto Musashi’s, where “no sword surpasses having a sword”? However, from Feng Qingyang’s narration when teaching Linghu Chong the Dugu Nine Swords, it never mentioned the technique being able to unleash sword qi, right?
But regardless, the massive transformation and tremendous boost in strength brought by advancing the Dugu Nine Swords to the second level was ultimately a good thing. Especially with the great battle approaching, it was a huge, welcome surprise.
“With this level of destructive power, it’s sure to give Miyamoto Musashi quite a shock in a few days, right?” Jiang Fei smiled with satisfaction.
The power of the Dugu Nine Swords’ second level was indeed far greater than the first—absolutely more than double. Based on his previous encounter with Miyamoto Musashi, Jiang Fei felt his chances of victory were very high this time, even without using his ultimate reward.
“Oh right, I forgot to check earlier how many skill points are needed to upgrade the Dugu Nine Swords to level three after its advancement.” After steadying himself, Jiang Fei once again summoned his character status screen in his mind, looking at the martial arts skills section.
Martial Arts Skills:
Lightness Skill – Triple Cloud Step, Level 1 (0/100)
Incomplete Tai Chi Fist, Level 1 (0/200)
Art of Qimen Dunjia, Level 2 (0/450)
Dugu Nine Swords, Level 2 (0/1200)
Beiming Divine Skill (3.7/15)
Ladder Cloud Ascension, Level 1 (0/460)
Available Skill Points: 0
Jiang Fei was somewhat taken aback.
Advancing from the second to the third level actually required 1200 skill points, equivalent to twelve thousand experience points! Remember, advancing from the first to the second level only needed 450 skill points. This was nearly triple the amount, whereas before it never even doubled.
“If advancing from the second to the third level is this difficult, then the power of the third level at its peak should be even greater. There might even be unexpected changes. It’s not impossible to achieve the state where ‘no sword surpasses having a sword’, directly forming sword qi or something similar.” Jiang Fei stroked his chin, thinking with a sly grin.
Time passed day by day, and in the blink of an eye, the day of the decisive battle approached.
Not only martial artists, but masters from various sects and schools arrived in Jincheng, preparing to witness what could be considered an epic battle between the top masters of China and Japan—at least the strongest on the surface. A duel of such masters was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see, not to be missed.
Moreover, even some special personnel from the government had begun paying attention to this fight. The most typical example was, of course, the ‘Seven Killers Organization’.
Setting aside the many interests and matters of face involved in a clash between China’s and Japan’s top masters, which demanded attention, Jiang Fei, due to special circumstances, had obtained the Seven Killers Token and could be considered half a member of their organization. Both by sentiment and reason, they had to keep a close watch.
Beyond the Seven Killers Organization, many special intelligence agencies from both China and Japan also flocked to the scene.
Both China and Japan had clear regulations: conflicts among the martial world were generally not controlled by the government unless they caused particularly severe repercussions. Therefore, such a duel between top masters from the civilian martial worlds of the two countries didn’t officially represent anything. However, as it involved citizens of both nations, it symbolically represented each country to some extent. Everyone naturally wanted their nation’s master to win.
On the day before the battle, the large number of masters staying in Jincheng began heading towards Mount Emei to arrive early at the duel location, lest they miss anything.
These masters were not the imagined, carefree martial artists of old, but were wealthier than the wealthiest, more extravagant than the most lavish. With very few exceptions, each had private transportation, and the cars were increasingly luxurious. Audi was the lowest-tier configuration; Mercedes-Benz and BMW were considered mid-range. Only cars like Little Wine Ghost’s Bentley were considered relatively high-end.
Suddenly, the road from Jincheng to Emei was lined with luxury cars, as if some kind of luxury car exhibition was about to take place in Emei. The various high-end hotels on Mount Emei were completely full, with countless people using connections to secure rooms. This left many ordinary people who had booked hotels online inexplicably receiving cancellations. Countless ordinary people, unaware of the details, were utterly astonished, wondering what had happened, and could only click their tongues in disbelief, muttering to themselves, “Damn, there are so many rich people!”
Luxury cars gathered like clouds. People of all ages arrived, from elderly in their seventies or eighties to teenagers of thirteen or fourteen with dyed hair, all dressed in peculiar, old-fashioned attire.
Some wore long robes, others donned the special uniforms of their respective sects. There were even monks, Taoist priests, and nuns—these special groups rarely seen in modern cities—swarming to the site.
“Ah, Old Li, you came too? Didn’t you say long ago you were done with worldly affairs?”
“Yes. Old Liu, long time no see. Don’t talk about me, you performed the Golden Basin Hand-Washing Ceremony to retire. What are you doing out and about now?”
“Hand-washing is hand-washing. As long as I don’t take action, it’s fine. Today, I’m just here to observe, won’t lift a finger.”
“Haha, you probably don’t even qualify to take action, right? Tsk tsk. Miyamoto Musashi is Japan’s ‘Sword Master’. This young man from China, Jiang Fei, the newly emerged ‘Sword God’, is likely also a top-tier master nowadays. The new generation surpasses the old. Folks like us are no match anymore…”
“So let’s just watch quietly.”
