Big Data Cultivation

Chapter 375: Chapter 375: Deception and Intrigue

Gu Maoyuan saw Feng Jun reaching for the longsword and was instantly delighted.

In a battle between martial cultivators, to grab the opponent’s weapon with bare hands was akin to seeking death, wasn’t it?

Gu Maoyuan could guess that the other must have some kind of protection on his hands to dare such a bold move. He had long been famous and had experienced countless battles, big and small. What type of situations had he not encountered?

But he was currently wielding a longsword, and the technique he used was not to chop, but to thrust!

If the opponent had something like Ice Silk Gloves, chopping down with the longsword might well be ineffective. After all, he was an Innate Expert, and so was the opponent—in a situation where their strength was equal, Ice Silk Gloves would not be so easily breached.

But his longsword thrust out, with the blade sliding. This type of cutting method was capable of slicing through many tough defenses.

What he hadn’t anticipated was that in the moment just before touching the longsword, the opponent changed from a grab to a slap, knocking the longsword away with a single palm strike.

This change caused Gu Maoyuan’s attack to be old and suddenly disrupted its fluidity.

However, Feng Jun seized this fleeting opportunity, dodged to the side, and launched dozens of consecutive slashes at the big man.

The combat strength of the big man was already slightly inferior, and with old injuries not yet healed and new ones inflicted, seeing the opponent ignoring Gu Maoyuan and attacking only him, he couldn’t help but feel furious and charged forward with his blade, shouting, “Damn it, you really think I’m easy to bully?”

But he was indeed easy to bully; a few slashes later, he repeatedly retreated.

Seeing this, Gu Maoyuan could no longer care about anything else. He wielded his longsword as if it were a chopping knife, continuously slashing towards Feng Jun.

One would say that it’s harder to defend against thrusting with a longsword, but the opponent’s movement was exceptionally good, slippery like a fish, dodging far too quickly.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Anxious to resolve his companion’s crisis, he resorted to using the “Thunderfall Sword Technique,” aiming to force the opponent to block or parry.

However, very unfortunately for him, Feng Jun was fully equipped for battle that day. He wore the Flood Dragon Silk Soft Armor, had Ice Silk Gloves on his right hand, and even held an Iron Token. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have allowed his opponents to attack him earlier outside the courtyard.

If this equipment were worn by a High-Rank Martial Master, their Inner Qi would not be powerful or refined enough. Gu Maoyuan’s longsword was a Spirit Weapon, for which breaking through defenses would have been sufficiently easy.

But very unfortunately for him, Feng Jun was also an Innate Martial Cultivator. Although the Iron Token was marked with sword cuts, it could not be broken in the short term.

Finally, the big man could no longer hold on and leapt into the sky. Even though this fighting method consumed more Inner Qi and worsened his injuries, it might allow him to escape the current passive situation.

Once the battle continued in the air, Gu Maoyuan would have more angles to attack from; he could even initiate an assault from below.

However, just as the big man had started to leap into the air, Feng Jun seemed as if he had been waiting for this moment all along. His legs thrust fiercely against the ground, leaping over thirty feet high, and then he ferociously slashed down with his blade.

At that moment, the big man had no escape and had to desperately resist.

A series of crisp sounds later, the big man was ruthlessly knocked from the air to the ground.

“Die!” Feng Jun roared, fiercely chopping down with his blade.

The big man’s Spirit Blade finally broke under the strain, cleaving into two pieces.

Just then, a pale yellow light shone from his body—it turned out to be a Golden Armor Charm!

Feng Jun was also quite surprised. You, being an Innate High-Rank Expert, use such a low-level talisman?

This was the helplessness of the big man using the Bone Shrinking Technique; he actually had defensive gear, which was no less than the Flood Dragon Silk Soft Armor—the Golden Thread Iron Chain Mail. But if he wanted to impersonate Gu Maoyuan, that physique simply couldn’t fit into the chain mail.

So, he had to settle for less and acquired a Golden Armor Charm for emergencies. After all, it could also defend against the attack of a High-Rank Martial Master.

Feng Jun swung another blade reverse-handedly, and his Spirit Blade finally penetrated the opponent’s defense, landing heavily on the big man’s ribs.

The yellow light trembled, and the defensive force field of the Golden Armor Charm shattered; blood gushed like a fountain from the big man’s ribcage.

Seeing the dire situation, the big man turned and fled, but Feng Jun slashed down with his blade again.

The bright light of the blade flashed more than a dozen times, and the big man was cut into three parts.

—He had hidden chain mail in front of his chest, which blocked over a dozen slashes, but in the end, it failed to protect other parts of his body.

Feng Jun raised his right hand steadily, blocking another blow from Gu Maoyuan, feeling a slight confusion in his mind: why didn’t this guy run away?

From the beginning, the big man had had the chance to escape.

Of course, there was no need for two Innates to flee from a single Innate; they were still considering counterattacking Feng Jun.

But when the big man was forcefully brought down to the ground, he really should have run. The blade couldn’t hold on, nor could he; if he had focused on running, with Feng Jun followed by Gu Maoyuan’s sneak attacks, he could have essentially escaped death.

Yet he stubbornly resisted until the end—an action truly hard to comprehend.

This curiosity, however, flickered through Feng Jun’s mind like a flash of lightning, and then he felt a lightness in his hand and suddenly surged forward.

His Xuan Iron Token was finally slashed in two.

Raising his hand, he threw away the smaller half of the Xuan Iron Token, clutched the larger remaining piece, turned around, and chuckled lightly, “I didn’t fight back, did you enjoy hitting me?”

Seeing him turn, Gu Maoyuan stepped back cautiously, his expression extremely ferocious, “Today, you can’t leave… What wrong have the Gu Family disciples done to deserve such a ruthless attack from you?”

Feng Jun originally didn’t want to waste words with him, but, hearing such a question, he couldn’t help sneering, “You poisoned me during my Innate celebration, and you have the nerve to accuse me? Are the lives of the Gu Family disciples worth more than others’?”

“Huh?” Gu Maoyuan was startled, suspicion flooding his face, “Poisoning? I’ve been in seclusion… who poisoned you?”

“The person who poisoned me said he was…” Feng Jun’s words were cut in mid-sentence as he suddenly lunged forward, his long blade chopping down from above.

Gu Maoyuan, the old hand, was on alert and darted a good distance away, avoiding a confrontation but still calling out, “Can’t we talk this through? Must you force us into a fight where both sides suffer?”

Feng Jun didn’t chase after him. With a flicker, he appeared in front of one of the Gu Family Warriors outside the wall, his blade rising and falling swiftly to bisect the man, while he burst out laughing, “Old man, you think I can’t see your tactic to buy time?”

Why did he suspect it was a stalling tactic? Because Gu Maoyuan was acting too out of character. Initially, his talk about his family’s dead was with clenched teeth, as though he wished to devour him, now he seemed eager to understand the truth.

Please, since when did the Gu Family ever play the truth card? They always rely on force. Is the truth really that important to them?

In plain terms, the old guy’s acting was too fake. Certainly he hadn’t read “An Actor Prepares”, right?

Wrong… it’s the screenwriter who’s no good. Without a decent script, you could look for the author of “The Quest for Love’s Envoy”; that beggar doesn’t charge much—a mere million or eight hundred thousand per episode will do.

All these were conjectures but, in essence, delaying was to the Gu Family’s advantage. If they could gather enough fragments… if they could muster enough High-Rank masters, they could gang up and overwhelm an Innate Expert. It’s like flailing punches to take down an old master.

Where would Feng Jun give him such a chance? You don’t fight me? I’ll kill your Gu Family’s experts!

At first, he was worried that Gu Maoyuan would flee, but when he realized that Gu Maoyuan had brought another Innate to set a trap for him, he knew the bastard wasn’t prepared to abandon his property and leave.

This bastard must be planning to kill me and continue to run the Gu Family. Otherwise, why bother to go through so much trouble?

Luckily, I’m not one to play by the rules. First, I made a devastating blow to your meeting place, then killed the survivors. Isn’t the matter… also smoothly resolved?

“He killed another Gu Family disciple!” Gu Maoyuan’s eyes reddened again as he pounced towards him, his sword light flashing like a long rainbow, “Die, you thief!”

“You really think you’re a big deal!” Feng Jun sneered coldly, turned around to face him, and their swords clashed dozens of times in the blink of an eye, like rain dropping on bananas, or like pearls falling on a jade plate.

In the violent collision, Feng Jun felt his Spirit Blade trembling, wailing mournfully.

The Spirit Blade that the Yongyi Duke’s Princely Heir had just gifted him wasn’t of poor quality but was only considered fine, not top-notch.

His Spirit Blade might not be stronger than the Innate Expert’s blade; it was very likely due to the other’s blade being overused, losing its durability, that it could not withstand his new blade.

Of course, his momentum was stronger, and in the clash of blades, his held some advantage.

However, it was very clear that Gu Maoyuan’s sword was a bit better than his. As the sword and blade clashed, notches appeared, but his blade suffered more damage.

It’s not for nothing that the great clans have such foundation. Centuries, even millennia, of accumulation—even if by sheer luck—were enough to amass some fine items.

As for this, Feng Jun didn’t worry too much. A lack of accumulation was not a fault of combat, what was truly important was that he had to consider obtaining some better Spirit Weapons after the battle.

Unexpectedly, Gu Maoyuan seemed to have noticed the gap between their weapons as well, but instead of focusing on clashing blades, he continued to fight in an evasive manner.

What was this guy waiting for? Once Feng Jun realized this, he became more vigilant. Wanting to take down two more of the Gu Family’s High-Rank masters, he discovered they had all retreated far away.

Even if they’re far, they must be killed! With a thought, he broke away from the fight and charged straight towards the Gu Family members.

Seeing this, Gu Maoyuan knew his intention and in a fury gave chase with his sword, “You thief, face my sword!”

If Feng Jun were to strike back at that moment, he could catch him off guard and gain the upper hand.

But he didn’t wish to fight there any longer and could not afford to overly consume the Spirit Blade. Thus, ignoring the pursuit, he charged directly towards the Gu Family members.

However, the Gu Family members were also prepared at this point, raising their hands and throwing out several round objects that burst open midair, forming large nets.

Strictly speaking, the nets were not very big, but they were enough to entangle part of a body. If caught, even an Innate Expert would have no choice but to be at the mercy of others.

Seeing this, Feng Jun forcefully elevated his body a dozen feet, displaying an eerie pivot midair, and landed seven or eight zhang away at the front side.

As soon as he landed, he felt a softness under his feet and his Inner Qi ceased to flow smoothly.

He was struck with horror, “They actually used poison?”

(During the double monthly ticket event, shouting out loud, first come two chapters, with more added at dawn.)